


Volume 2: Calm Before the Storm

by Thorns_of_a_Rose



Series: Scattered Petals AU [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: A War Begins With A Single Spark, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, Fear, Ghosts, Multi, Multiverse Theory, White Fang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-25
Updated: 2017-07-05
Packaged: 2018-11-04 15:29:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 47,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10993758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thorns_of_a_Rose/pseuds/Thorns_of_a_Rose
Summary: Just like every show, RWBY has a lot of 'what if' moments, places where the story could go in a whole different direction just because of one change.Scattered Petals is one of those universes, one where Team RWBY never formed, the reason why is explained in the Volume 1 Prologue. The rest of the story follows characters, both returning and new, in this world where an old power has died, starting the cycle anew. So join teams old and new as they embark on a journey that will test their spirits as an evil rises, threatening to burn all of Remnant.Volume 2 introduces new characters, the next enemy of the series, and much more.Winter is white SNOW, fresh upon the groundSpring is the JNPR tree in bloom, brightening the worldSummer is the BLZE of heat, bearing down on allFall is hot CFVY with friends and family as the year winds down





	1. Prologue: Past, Present, Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trip to Samuel's dives deeper into Leonard's past, with the ghosts of his past turning up. Red, Blondie, it's good to see you again

Leonard hummed the tune he was listening to as he and Elizabeth made their way to Samuel’s place. They were finally able to go today, but without his teammates. Blake and Zinnea had said the previous evening that they needed to talk about some things, considering the revelations of last night, he wasn’t surprised. Learning that Blake was a Faunas had surprised them all, but Zinnea was probably the hardest hit. Not only was she Blake’s partner, but she was also the only person she could have truly talked to about this, she probably felt a little insulted.  
Elizabeth picked up on the song Leonard was humming, asking in order to clarify what she was hearing, “Is that ‘Some Kind of Magic’?”  
Leonard just smiled, the song he was listening too was a lot like what Elizabeth thought it was, it was a personal favorite of his, considering it was released on his birthday.  
“Close,” Leonard said, “SMLE just released ‘Halo’, its pretty good.”  
Elizabeth just smiled, Leonard enjoyed GrimmCat more than anyone else she knew; he had a new song on his scroll every few days, each one a new tune and beat, but it was his second love, a constant dance party of music, and she loved him for it, they had danced the night away to those tunes several times, especially when GrimmCat’s second channel, The Funky Grimm started up Swinging Spring a few years ago.  
Leonard started softly singing the tune he was listening to;

The butterflies on my insides have all gone away  
You’re not along for the danger, but I’m here to stay  
I fall even deeper in the lies, they don’t keep me awake  
You want to know my secrets so you keep crashing into my waves  
I don’t have the patience for that  
Naw, I don’t care, we’re waiting for that  
I don’t changed in my head  
Let’s go somewhere and never come back  
Tonight we lose control-ol-ol-ol-ol  
No matter where we go-o-o-o-o  
We’re never going ho-ho-ho-ho-home  
And you don’t even know  
When I get you alone  
You can lose your Halo

On the last sentence he kissed Elizabeth on the cheek, sending a red blush through his girlfriend’s face and neck, he could still surprise her every once in a while.

* * *

 

The rest of the walk was mostly uneventful, Leonard occasionally doing a small dance to the tunes he was listening to, with Elizabeth giggling whenever she got swept up in the act, the two dorks perfect for each other.  
Once they were at Samuel’s, Leonard stepped up the video communicator, something Samuel designed just so he could tell unsolicited visitors to ‘fuck off’ without having to get up from whatever he was working on.  
Hitting the button, there was a buzz, letting Samuel know to answer the communicator. It took a few seconds, but when he answered, he saw a young man way more grizzled than the last time they spoke, dark circles hung under his eyes, his sharp features covered in an light scruff of facial hair.  
“Ugh,” he groaned, obviously tired, if his current state wasn’t already a giveaway, “Hey Leonard, sorry about the mess, it’s been a rough few months,” he sighed, “they literally showed up the week after you and Elizabeth started at Beacon, didn’t talk for the first few days, but the more they do talk, the more I can’t sleep, we seriously need to talk,” Samuel paused as he started digging through the stuff on his desk, “Let me just find my key so the security system doesn’t try to kill you for trying to open the door.”  
Leonard just nodded, remembering the time he and Elizabeth showed up at Samuel’s door after a couple of Junior’s goons, Leonard still didn’t know how Samuel managed to fit high grade flamethrowers into the steel door that was his home’s front entrance, but he did. As he closed the communicator, he noticed how quiet Elizabeth was, normally she liked to make some passing comment about something Samuel had said, but right now she was silent.  
Turning away from the communicator, Leonard saw what had Elizabeth so quiet, poking through the door, was the head of a young girl, she looked like she was a couple years younger than Elizabeth, short brown hair with red tips and a smile that could have melted the coldest hearts.  
“Hello,” said the young girl, looking back and forth between Leonard and Elizabeth, and that’s when Leonard saw the thing that made his stomach flip, the thing that made so many horrors come running back into his head, her eyes, they were silver, a fact that made his own gold grow wide in surprise.  
Anger over took him as he slammed the communicator, opening back up the call with Samuel.  
“Can it wait,” Samuel asked, “I still can’t find the key.”  
“If this is some kind of joke, it isn’t funny,” Leonard shouted, “I know I told you about my past, but that doesn’t allow you to make holograms of the people I lost!”  
“Holograms,” Samuel was confused, then he put two and two together, “Oh,” he said after a couple of seconds, “That’s not good, gimme a sec, I’ll be right there.”

 

In about ten seconds, Samuel was at the door, he opened it to a perturbed Leonard and a slightly terrified Elizabeth, both having different reactions to the specter of a young girl floating in his doorway. In seconds, the expression on Leonard’s face changed, from anger to curiosity, so many questions needed to be asked, but there was not enough time to ask them all.  
“All of you, inside,” Samuel said sternly, there was some authority in that voice, but not aimed at his friends, more at the specter that had been one of his annoying guests for the past several months.  
As Leonard and Elizabeth entered, Samuel shut the door and scolded the young apparition, “How is it that you can’t follow the simplest of rules, ‘no greeting guests’ shouldn’t be that hard to follow, and yet you’ve managed to break that simple rule.”  
“I’m sorry,” said the spirit, now looking at the ground.  
“Look,” Samuel said, “I know you’re excited, but what if someone else had seen you, what if Miza had been discovered because of that, you got to think ahead Ruby, even if you’re dead, you still need to understand that you can’t just go around doing whatever you feel like. There are rules, and they need to be followed.”  
Samuel then realized Leonard was still staring at Ruby, “Go ahead Leonard,” Samuel said, knowing that there were thousands of possible questions on his friend’s lips.  
Leonard just looked at her, hoping she would remember who he was, “Ruby,” he said, still amazed that she had somehow found her way to this place, to the one person who could help her, “Do you not remember me?”  
Ruby stared at Leonard, she knew he looked familiar, it was the eyes, the odd color reminded her so much of her own silver, but she couldn’t match them with anyone she knew, as she knew so little.  
As she shook her head, Leonard already knew what his next question was, suddenly remembering that Samuel had said there was more than just Ruby here, “Is your sister here,” he asked.  
Ruby simply nodded, but before she could do anything, Leonard shouted at the top of his lungs, “Yang Xiao Long, if you don’t get your ass in here right this instant I am so telling!!”  
Instantly a blonde mane appeared, the face attached contorting into some form of a stink eye, but upon seeing the sea of golden strands and the lilac eyes, Leonard’s excitement and curiosity turned back into anger, remembering that it was these two who had gotten him the curse that was his semblance.  
“What is wrong with you Xiao Long,” he shouted at her, “Going after her was the dumbest, most reckless, dangerous thing you’ve ever done. If you weren’t already dead, I’d fucking strangle you.”  
Yang just looked at the golden-eyed brunette who was tearing up as he continued to rant at the two ghosts that were once his childhood friends, “You two left your family, you left me, but no, Yang Xiao Long just had to find her,” Leonard continued to shout, “It’s been thirteen years, thirteen fucking years, and still no one has heard from her, face it Xiao Long, you went chasing a shadow who never loved you, and left the family who did broken for the rest of their lives!”  
“I didn’t know,” Yang shouted, ending Leonard’s rant before he could say anything else, “I didn’t know, Leonard. I just wanted to find her to ask why, why she left me and dad, I want to know why she didn’t love me, I still do, but I can’t, at least in a way where I can talk to her afterwards.”  
“That’s the price, Yang,” a voice called, Leonard turned around to see Mizayaki walking past Elizabeth and Samuel.  
Kissing Samuel on the cheek as she walked in, she continued, “You know how this works, my powers allow you to maintain this form and speak to the living, but you need to be in a certain range of me. It’s why we don’t let you two wander, you came to us looking for help, a way to contact the living, and we will find them, all of them, but for now, this is the last person we know that knows you two.”  
“I never thought they would find you,” said Leonard, “I knew you talked to the dead Miza, but they had been dead for years when I met you and Samuel, I still thought I would never see these two again.”  
Mizayaki just smiled, “I’m surprised too, but after spending some time with them, they’re not done in this plane, not yet.”  
“Speaking of them,” Samuel said, interrupting the current conversation, “Leonard, there was another reason I wanted to talk to you today. My lab, five minutes.”  
Leonard turned to the two ghosts, his past, “I’m sorry for yelling,” he apologized, “It’s just seeing you guys after so long, it’s a lot of emotions all at once.”  
Yang and Ruby wrapped themselves around Leonard, their ethereal forms misting against human flesh, “It’s alright Leonard,” Yang said, “It was nice to see you again.”

In Samuel’s lab, Leonard just stared at his latest creation, which was currently rebooting.  
“So what exactly is it,” Elizabeth asked, also confused on what the machine was supposed to do.  
“It’s a ‘time’ machine,” Samuel said, air quotes apparent as he made the motion.  
“A what,” Leonard said, looking at Samuel like he had grown another head.  
“The idea came to me shortly after your ‘Ghosts of Family’s Past’ first showed up,” Samuel said, ignoring the stink eye from Leonard, “It can’t look at the future of this universe, but I can look at the timelines of other potential universes to try and get an idea of what could happen.”  
“I thought multiverse theory was just that,” Leonard pointed out, “A theory.”  
“Not so sure on that anymore,” Samuel said, the device finally booting up, “Either way, it doesn’t change the fact that there are some interesting things out there, but one timeline has caught my interest, one where those two are alive.”  
Samuel pulled up pictures of the other universe, a place where Leonard and Elizabeth did not see themselves, nor Orion, Zinnea, Samantha, and Natalia, just Blake and Weiss, alongside a plucky Ruby Rose and an ever-loving Yang Xiao Long. Leonard didn’t see everything, but he saw the same night he had gone after Torchwick with Elizabeth, but this time it was just Ruby with a massive scythe, and the other day, all the chaos with Blake’s secret, and he saw a bit further, he wasn’t sure what exactly was going on, but he saw her, the demon who made him what he was.  
“Leonard,” Elizabeth’s voice sounded distance as Leonard stared into the void that was this monster’s eyes.  
“Turn it off,” Leonard said weakly, the grip of the voice of his nightmares all of the sudden alive and well, telling him he didn’t belong, that he was a monster, that they would all die because of him.  
Elizabeth and Samuel just stared at him, forcing Leonard to scream, “Turn it off!”  
As Samuel shut off the device, Elizabeth rushed to Leonard’s side, “You’re okay,” she whispered in his ear, wrapping herself around him, “It’s alright, it’s off, you’re safe.”  
Leonard just broke down in tears, just glad the voice was gone.  
“What the hell just happened,” asked Samuel, having no idea what he just witnessed.  
“My nightmare isn’t just some voice in my head,” said Leonard, his voice still a little shaken from his experience, “It has a face, a name, a purpose.”  
Samuel still didn’t understand all of what was going on, “And that is what exactly?”  
“To destroy us all,” Leonard said, “Her name is Salem, and she is the GrimmSire.”  
Samuel just sat down, shaking his head, “Well that’s all kinds of ominous.”

* * *

 

About an hour later, Leonard and Elizabeth said their goodbyes to Samuel and Mizayaki, as well as Yang and Ruby. As they went back to Beacon, Elizabeth took Leonard’s hand, needing to know if he was truly alright.  
“No,” Leonard whispered, “I’m not. Knowing the nightmare that still plagues me is a real monster makes it that much worse.”  
Leonard wanted to run, to curl up somewhere and cry himself into oblivion, but as Elizabeth wiped a tear from his eye. Bringing herself closer, she kissed him, he pressed back, almost desperately, not wanting this moment to end, a hint of sadness in his eyes when it did.  
“I’ll always be there for you,” Elizabeth whispered, their foreheads pressed together, green stared into gold, and Leonard felt at peace, “Your monsters are also mine, we’ll fight them together.”  
Leonard felt his confidence return bit by bit as the two returned to Beacon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was nice to put Ruby and Yang back in, and I feel a little bad of creating Mizayaki for this specific purpose, but they were going to be characters anyways, so I thought that Samuel's partner could be more than a pretty face.  
> Also, the small reference to Leonard's 'nightmare' being her, that will be explained, long story short, the conversation at the end of the Volume 1 Prologue becomes a lot more significant when you realize who the two characters are, and what exactly has been done.
> 
> As for the music reference, those will start appearing more and more, I don't own any of the songs either, but you can check out [SMLE's Halo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgXDWIYEV3Y) if you want to also lose your halo.


	2. Chapter 1: The Death of a SalesFaunas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All may seem peaceful in Vale, but crime is still afoot, a plan has been set into motion and it will try to bring all of Vale coming down.

It was a sunny day in Vale, the slightly cheery atmosphere would make you seem like nothing was wrong, even though Torchwick and the White Fang were still pulling their grand theft Dust spree. Despite everything, old man Riku had decided to reopen his shop. He had just hung the ‘Newly Re-opened’ sign on his shop and was getting down when someone bumped into the ladder.   
“Excuse me! Sorry,” apologized the young woman, dark skinned and pastel green hair, “I’m not really from around here.”  
Offering him a hand in getting up, the young woman asked him a simple question, “Would you mind pointing me in the direction of this shop?”  
Mr. Riku just nodded as he gave the young woman direction, unaware that this girl had already stolen his wallet.

The young woman walked away, waving goodbye to the poor sap who had just given her the directions to her next target, and his wallet.   
As she made her way past the nearby alleyway, the voice of her partner taunted her, “I knew you were lost, Emerald.”  
Turning back around, Emerald marched up her partner, her blood red eyes meeting his dark gray, “Mercury,” she said, holding up the wallet as she offered him a deal, “I will seriously pay you to shut up.”  
“That’s not your money,” Mercury said, almost dismissing her offer.   
“But it could be yours for five minutes of silence,” Emerald said, trying to get her aggravating partner to just be the silent killer their boss had hired him to be.   
Mercury thought about the offer for a couple seconds before responding, “No deal.”  
“Fine,” Emerald growled, ripping the Lien out of the wallet and throwing the rest to the ground.   
“Whatever,” Mercury said as his partner marched off in the direction of their target, “You want me.”

* * *

 

About a half hour later, Mercury had already decided they had done too much walking, already sick of the sunny weather and incessant noise that came from every car, café, and person moving around this city.   
“How much farther,” he asked, almost whining at the prospect of traveling much farther.   
“Just a few blocks,” Emerald responded, taking a little pleasure in her partner’s misery.   
“This place is so dull,” he groaned.   
“I kinda like it,” Emerald responded, “Tall buildings, diverse culture.”  
“And nice dopey people who are easy to pickpocket,” Mercury added to a disappointed stare from Emerald.   
“That’s every city,” Emerald said as Mercury started to joke around.   
“Oh Emerald,” Mercury said, his mocking voice supposed to be an impression of every helpless pickpocket target ever, “Master Thief! Please don’t take my money! I barely have enough to get by!”  
Emerald just glared at him before walking away, trying to get this job done sooner rather than later.   
“You are no fun today,” he muttered.

A couple minutes later, they were at the address, a small book shop in downtown Vale. Entering the store, the two found it surprisingly empty and dark. As Mercury began looking at various books, Emerald approached the counter, wondering if their target was even here.   
Ringing the bell, a voice answered from the back, “Be right there.” The double doors opened to a slightly older man, carrying an unnecessarily large stack of books.   
“Welcome to Tukson’s book trade,” the man said, as he went to put down his cargo, “Home to every book under the sun.”  
Returning to the register he continued his usual greeting to customers, “How may I,” he paused, unsure how to feel about the green haired girl happily grinning at him, “How may I help you?”  
“Just browsin’,” answered Mercury from behind Emerald, slamming a book as he did.   
“Actually, I was wondering, do you have any copies of The Thief and the Butcher,” Emerald asked.   
“We do,” answered Tukson.   
“That’s great,” replied Emerald, Tukson wasn’t sure if that enthusiasm was fake or not, but it didn’t matter.   
“Would you like a copy,” he asked.   
“No,” Emerald responded, “Just wondering.”  
Another book slammed from the back of the store.   
“Oh,” Emerald exclaimed, “What about Violet’s Garden in paperback?”  
“He’s got it,” responded Mercury, “Hardback too.”  
“Ooh, options are nice,” said Emerald.   
Mercury just shrugged as he slammed the book, “No pictures. Hey, you have any comics?”  
“Near the front,” Tukson responded, before turning back to Emerald, who was already asking her next request.   
“What about Third Crusade,” she asked.   
Tukson frowned, actually unsure if he had it. To the stares of Mercury and Emerald he answered the question, “I don’t believe we carry that one.”  
Mercury just slammed the book he was holding.   
Emerald saw the chink in the armor and pushed, “What was this place called again,” she asked.   
“Tukson’s Book Trade,” the owner answered.   
“And you’re Tukson?”  
“Correct.”  
“So I take it you’re the one who came up with the catchphrase,” Emerald continued to push.   
“Yes,” Tukson answered.   
“What was it again,” asked Mercury as he slammed another book.   
“Tukson’s Book Trade, home to every book under the sun,” he recited.   
“Except the Third Crusade,” Mercury quickly added.   
“It’s just a catchphrase,” Tukson said, exasperated by the two humans in his shop asking questions and not buying anything.   
“It’s false advertising,” Mercury nearly shouted.   
Emerald just smirked, “You shouldn’t make a promise you can’t keep, Tukson.”   
As Mercury started to blackout the windows, Emerald continued with something Tukson didn’t expect her to know, “I hear you’re planning on leaving, moving all the way to Vacuo,” Tukson realized who these two were as Emerald finished her talk, “Your brothers in the White Fang wouldn’t be happy to hear that, and neither are we.”  
There was a short silence before Emerald asked the all-important question, “You know who we are, don’t you?”  
“Yes,” answered Tukson.   
“And you know why we’re here?”  
“Yes.”  
Emerald smirked, “So, are you going to fight back?”  
Tukson thought for a second before popping his claws in answer, “Yes!”  
Leaping onto his counter, he went to slash out Emerald’s throat, she easily ducked his strike, sending him sailing into the kick of Mercury. With a single explosive kick, the fight was over, the owner of the little book store they were in now laid dead on the floor.   
As the two left, Mercury started to read the comic book he had grabbed on the way out.   
“What’s with that,” asked Emerald.   
“I like the pictures,” said Mercury, causing Emerald to roll her eyes.

 

* * *

 

_Several hours later_

Emerald and Mercury walked through the warehouse that was the current headquarters for their operation. The White Fang were unloading the various crates of Dust that had been everything they were able to scavenge from last night’s fiasco. Walking up to their associate, Roman Torchwick just rolled his eyes at them before being sarcastic as possible.   
“Oh look, she sent the kids again,” Roman said, walking up to Emerald and Mercury, giving them an over-exaggerated hug, “This is turning out just like the divorce.”  
Emerald shuddered at the hug, and that thought, “Please spare us the thought of you procreating.”  
“That was a joke,” Roman responded, holding up the piece of paper he had taken from Emerald, “And this might just tell me where you two have been all day.”  
“What,” exclaimed Emerald, grabbing the pocket where that paper had been.   
“I’m a professional sweetheart,” Roman said, “Pay attention, maybe you’ll learning something.”  
Looking at the writing, his eyes narrowed, tone was dangerously flat when he asked his question, “Why do you have this address?”  
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” countered Emerald.   
“Yea, I would,” retorted Roman, “Now where have you been all day?”  
“Cleaning up your problems,” snapped Mercury, “One of them at least.”  
“I had that under control,” groaned Roman, tired of these two kids trying to act like they knew what they were doing.   
“Two packed bags and a ticket out of Vale said otherwise,” pointed out Mercury.   
“Listen you little punk, if it were up to me, I would take you and your little street rat friend here and I would-” Roman started to threaten, but another voice stopped him in his track.   
“Do what, Roman?”  
Looking up the three saw the head of their operation.   
“Cinder,” Emerald called out, always happy to see the brunette, especially since she was the only one who actually scared Roman.   
“I’d not kill them,” Roman said nervously, not wanting to incur the wrath of the seductress that was his boss.   
Cinder didn’t give either an actual response, instead continuing to berate Roman for current events, “I thought I made it clear you were to eliminate the would-be runaway.”  
“I was going to,” Roman said in an attempt to defend himself.   
“He was going to escape to Vacuo,” Emerald pointed out, “Mercury and I decided to take it upon ourselves to kill the rat.”  
“I think he was some sort of cat actually,” added Mercury.   
“What, like a puma,” asked Emerald.   
“Yea.”  
“Quiet,” Cinder said, raising her voice enough to silence her two companions.   
“Did I not specifically instruct you two to keep your hands clean while in Vale,” Cinder sternly asked them, Roman silently laughing at their misfortune.   
Emerald started to come up with an excuse, “I just thought,” only to be interrupted.   
“Don’t think. Obey,” ordered Cinder as Roman mockingly ran his finger across his throat.   
“Yes, ma’am,” Emerald responded, her head hung in shame, “It won’t happen again.”  
Cinder then turned back to Roman, who only laughed nervously as she started, “And you, why wasn’t this job done sooner?”  
Roman thought about for a second, before gesturing the massive stockpile of Dust behind him, “Sorry if I’ve been a little busy, stealing every speck of Dust in the kingdom!”  
“You’re an inspiration to every punk with a gun and a ski-mask,” Mercury responded sarcastically.   
Roman just scowled at his as he made his point, “Look around, kid. I got this town running scared, police camping out on every corner, dust prices through the roof, and we’re sitting pretty in an old warehouse with more Dust crystals, vials, and rounds than we know what to do with,” Roman paused, looking his boss in the eye when he asked his next question, “Speaking of which, if you guys wouldn’t mind filling me in on your grand-master plan, it might actually make my next string of robberies go a little smoother.”  
“Oh Roman,” Cinder said, a little bit of a sultry purr in her voice, “Have a little faith. You’ll know what you need when you need to know it.”  
Roman just averted his eyes from the lustful glint always in Cinder’s eyes, he knew it was fake, much like her calm demeanor, he had seen what she could really do a few months ago during a disastrous heist. He was not messing with that level of crazy ever.   
“Besides,’ Cinder’s voice grabbing his attention back, “We’re done with Dust.”  
“Okay,” Roman said, a little confused, “Then what now?”  
“We’re moving,” Cinder ordered, “Have the White Fang clear out this building. I’ll send you details and coordinates tonight.”  
“Coordinates,” asked Roman.   
“We’re proceeding to phase two,” said Cinder with a smirk as she walked out of the warehouse, Emerald and Mercury following her.   
With the three finally leaving, Roman pulled out a cigar to smoke, but couldn’t find his lighter in either of his pockets. Looking up he saw Emerald with his lighter, she stuck her tongue out at his before shutting the open lighter and running away with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter since I don't like how Team CRME's story fits into several of the episodes, so this will be the first chapter that will 'side' stories only, and won't be the last.
> 
> As for side characters.  
> -Mr. Riku(The shopkeeper continues to be a reference)  
> -Tukson(the poor puma was taken before his time...seriously though, I've never understood the fascination some people have with this character)


	3. Chapter 2: Welcome to Beacon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the events of the previous evening behind her, Blake deals with the storm of emotions that follows, school antics continue and a plan shall be formed.

Blake Belladonna was still not all there, after everything that had happened last night, she and her partner had a talk about her traits, Zinnea was a little annoyed that Blake hadn’t said anything to her, but understood why, being a Faunas was rough, but being a part of the White Fang brought a different kind of stigma that Blake didn’t want or need to deal with. The talk had gone fine though, Zinnea telling Blake that she was willing to stand by her no matter what, though they should probably tell Teams CFVY and JNPR before the secret got out under someone else’s terms. Blake agreed, and decided to at least tell Leonard and Elizabeth about their decision before doing it, meaning they would have to wait a while as the two had left for Samuel’s about a half hour before the talk and still weren’t back a couple hours later.   
Blake’s head was now swimming with emotions about all of this, how in the span of two days she found herself with a crush on not one, but two people, how the organization she basically grew up a part of was working with Roman Torchwick, and worse, knowing that if she had to deal with the White Fang again, it would only be a matter of time before _he_ found out and all of the emotions she was feeling about two of the three Faunas who had become so close to her in recent days, she didn’t know how to handle it. She would have to deal with him eventually, and pray that neither of them ended up in crossfire.  
She was currently staring at her notebook during breakfast, various notes and drawings from her days in the Fang, including a sketch of _him_ , she couldn’t believe she used to love that psycho.   
Blake had been so absorbed in her own thoughts that when Zinnea leaned up against her, Blake almost fell off her seat.   
“Whatcha doing,” asked the dragon Faunas, her pink irises full of cheer and curiosity.   
“Nothing,” Blake hastily responded, shutting her notebook, “Just going over some notes from last quarter.”  
“Lame,” said Zinnea, catching a grape in her mouth that Nora had fired, the two were at their usual antics, as Blake noticed Weiss giving her a curious stare, almost as to see if she was hiding something. Fortunately she didn’t push as Zinnea caught another grape.   
Next to Weiss was Orion, across from them was Samantha and Natalia, the two lovebirds giggling about something, no idea what.  
Then from what seemed like out of nowhere, Orion asked a simple question that caught everyone off guard, “Blake, has Leonard asked you and Zinnea to a round of his game yet?”  
“Game,” Blake was confused, not sure what he was talking about.   
“The little plastic boxes he keeps on that one shelf in your team’s dorm,” Orion explained, “It’s a card game.”  
“Sounds boring,” Zinnea said, as she caught another grape from Nora.   
“That seems a little rude Zinnea,” Samantha said, “He offered a new experience, and you just flat up turned him down.”  
“He also said that Leonard was the one who has the decks,” Zinnea pointed out, “And since he seems to be _dragon_ his feet to get back, we can wait and see what he says.”  
Blake shook her head as Weiss face-palmed, the rest of her team looked at Zinnea, mouths agape, “Oh come on guys,” she said, “That was a good one, right?”  
Nora booed her from the next table as the apple she threw smacked Zinnea straight in the face.   
As Zinnea grabbed a different apple and hurled it at Nora, the others discussed Leonard’s potential offer.   
“It would probably be a nice team exercise for you guys,” Samantha said, before turning to Orion “Actually, Orion, don’t you have similar boxes in our dorm.”  
“I do,” Orion said, “Would you guys be up for that, maybe a larger game with both us and BLZE.”  
“That could be fun,” said Natalia, liking the suggestion, she could use a hobby here that didn’t involve the escapades she and her girlfriend usually ended up doing.   
“I don’t know,” Blake said, her current state not wanting an unnecessary social interaction at this point, “I think I might sit this one out.”  
“It would be a good team exercise,” Weiss said, standing up to try and show a little authority, “I for one think that-“  
Her sentence was interrupted as Nora yelled, “I got it,” followed by a banana cream pie hitting Weiss smack in the face, Ren had his face in his hands while Jaune, Nora, and Pyrrha expressed shock, Samantha and Natalia put a little distance from Weiss in anticipation of what was about to happen while Yatsuhashi and Fox, who were sitting next to JNPR just stared on in utter confusion, well, Yatsu stared, Fox just signed something along the lines of, “Well, shit.”

* * *

 

Outside the cafeteria, Sun was talking with his partner, Neptune, who had arrived with the rest of his team this morning. The conversation they were having was about yesterday.   
“Man, that’s harsh,” Neptune commented, as Sun had just been talking about how Blake had basically left Sun to fight Torchwick alone.   
Sun continued his story, “So then, we were fighting side by side, and she was super-fast.  And I threw a banana at a guy, which sounds gross, but it was awesome!”  
Neptune responded with a simple, “Nice!”  
“Right,” said Sun, before talking about what he thought was the best part of his adventure, “And the best part is, she’s a Faunas,” he instantly realized he had said that kind of loud, before lowering his voice a little and telling Neptune the other thing, “But that’s a secret okay!”  
“Got it,” responded Neptune.   
“And not a ‘I’m gonna tell Scarlet the second Sun turns his back’ secret. I’m talking ‘secret’ secret.”  
“Woah,” Neptune said smiling, “Chill out man, I got it. I got it.”  
“You better,” Sun said, tapping Neptune on the chest, “I just don’t want to screw this up, you know. The people here are the coolest, no offense to you guys.”  
“None taken,” said Neptune, neither of them noticing the chaos erupting in the cafeteria.   
“Alright, they’re just in here,” Sun said as the reached the doors to the cafeteria, “I’m really excited for you to meet them, so be cool. You gonna be cool, right?”  
“Dude,” Neptune said, not even bothering to gesture to his looks, his outfit of jeans and a maroon jacket coupled with the black tie and fingerless gloves he wore looked amazing as always. The goggles he wore didn’t even look out of place, and his teeth were sparkling for good measure.   
“Good point,” Sun said as they entered the cafeteria.

* * *

 

The two entered the cafeteria to a stampede of people trying to get out.   
“Food fight,” someone yelled as kids from Beacon, Haven, Shade, and Atlas streamed out of the cafeteria in an attempt to escape the chaos that had gone from a simple food fight to what could be an all-out brawl featuring the four most-powerful first year teams.  
“I’m queen of the castle,” Nora declared from the huge pile of tables at the back of the cafeteria, the rest of her team, as well as Fox and Yatsuhashi stood on the ‘castle’ she had constructed in record time.   
On the other side of the cafeteria, Team SNOW was joined by Blake and Zinnea, Samantha giving an odd speech as she held a carton of milk, “We will have justice,” she announced, “Justice will be swift. Justice will be painful. It will be delicious,” She squeezed the milk carton on that last sentence, everyone cheered while trying to keep a straight face with how ridiculous the situation had become.   
“Off with their head’s,” Nora shouted as her group began to chuck watermelons.   
“Zinnea,” Blake shouted. In an instant Zinnea had picked up the two whole roast turkeys on the ground, she proceeded to punch the various watermelons out of the air, only to get help from Blake, who had picked up two baguettes and was using them like a pair of twin swords, the pair smashing the rest of the fruity projectiles, then Zinnea launched her turkeys are Jaune and Pyrrha, the latter dodged the meaty projectiles that sent the former sprawling to the ground.   
Pyrrha then picked up a baguette of her own and started her duel with Blake, dodging the downward stab, before parrying the twin breads with her own. The two became a whirlwind of starch and bodies before Blake leapt into the air, throwing one her weapons at Pyrrha, who dodged it, then lunged at Blake, sending the raven-haired girl flying back as she landed. Pyrrha then threw her weapon, as well as several more large baguettes at the incoming forces, Zinnea deflected the first one before getting hit in the stomach by the second.  
As Zinnea hit the ground, Natalia rushed towards Pyrrha, using a tray as a surfboard, she easily maneuvered her through incoming bread, even deflecting one with the tray itself during an aerial trick that was mostly her showing off, before using the tray as a weapon to slam into Pyrrha, who sent Natalia flying back, while Nora and Ren rushed her. Stepping to the side revealed a ketchup bottle holding Weiss Schnee, who used the bottle of red liquid to create a slip and slide in front of her, causing Ren to slide past the two girls and slam into a small pile of tables, causing the entire pile to explode outwards, sending a table up that Nora used as a springboard, launching herself close to ceiling, where she grabbed and broke off part of steel support beam, using that and the watermelon she impaled upon landing as a giant hammer, knocking Natalia backwards and causing Weiss to roll to the side, picking up a full swordfish, she engaged the orange-haired menace. Fish scales, melon rind, and steel clanged and crashed as Weiss got in a good lunge, but Nora managed to get her back with a blow that sent the short, ivory-haired girl flying to a pillar, which collapsed on impact. Orion barely had time to get Schnee out of the way of the falling debris, before being over-dramatic with the fact that she had actually been knocked unconscious.  
Zinnea finally was able to get back into the fight, picking up the two turkeys she had used earlier, she engaged Fox in close quarters combat, the two blocking and countering before a single uppercut from the dragon Faunas sent the blind brawler soaring into the sky, before taking off after him and sending him slamming into the ground, causing another explosion of tables, food, and utensils. As they were dueling, Orion rushed Nora, using a steak t-bone he found to fight the ginger’s hammer, he got in a few good hits, before a single upward blow sent him flying into the sky, shattering the watermelon head of Nora’s hammer in the process.  
Blake back-flipped to avoid the debris caused by the new whole in the ceiling, grabbing an extraordinarily long chain of sausage, using it as a whip, she sent Nora flying back, slamming her into the soda machines, crumpling the machines on impact. Nora proceeded to pick up several cans of soda, which she threw like small grenades. Blake managed to dodge a few, but then realized the unintended consequences of her actions when Pyrrha realized there were metal objects all around her. Using her semblance the redhead took control of all the cans in the room, sending all of them at Blake, who was sent slamming into a wall.   
Finally deciding to end this battle, Natalia charged up her semblance, a whirlwind started to form, blowing the barrage of cans from Pyrrha back and sweeping up everyone who was in front of her in a wall of wind. The force of the wind was enough to put a spider web of cracks in the wall before the six huntsman and huntresses were bombarded with all the leftover food, tables, utensils, and soda cans left in the cafeteria, leaving them covered in a rainbow colored mess before the fell off the wall and onto the floor.

The battle finally over, Sun commented on the absolute mess, “I love these guys,” he said, turning to Neptune to see the blue haired boy furious and covered in grape soda.   
Before either could say anymore, Professor Goodwitch burst into the room, in a single hand motion, the room returned to normal, her semblance resetting the room to make it look like nothing ever happened, if it weren’t for the fact there were thirteen teenagers covered in food, soda, and various condiments.  
“Children, please,” she said, trying to contain the fury in her voice, “Do not play with your food.”  
As she looked between the two groups, the ceiling busted back open as Orion came tumbling out of the sky, crashing into a table next to his team before standing up and giving Goodwitch the thumbs up, the action causing everyone to laugh.

Glynda was seething as Ozpin came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder, “Let it go,” he said, calming her down slightly.   
“They’re supposed to be the defenders of the world,” she sighed.   
“And they will be,” Ozpin reassured her, “But right now they’re still children. So why not let them play the part?”  
As he walked away he added something else, “After all, it isn’t a role they’ll have forever.”

At that moment, Leonard and Elizabeth walked into the cafeteria, as they were looking for their team.   
Seeing the twelve idiots covered in food, Leonard immediately asked the obvious question, “Was there a food fight?”  
Turning to Elizabeth, he got kind of upset, “Babe, we missed a food fight!”  
“Leonard,” she said, giving him a stare that said it all.   
“But babe, food fight.”

 

* * *

 

_Later that day_

Ozpin and Glynda looked out over the city from Ozpin’s office, normally they wouldn’t have to do this, but the arrival of Atlas military had brought them up here for a discussion with the general.   
“Ironwood certainly loves bringing his work wherever he travels,” Glynda said with some disgust.   
“Well, running an academy and a military makes him a busy man,” Ozpin responded, “But yes, those are a bit of an eyesore.”  
Suddenly a beeping from Ozpin’s desk signaled that someone had just arrived on the floor.   
“Come in,” Ozpin said, the door’s to his office elevator opened to a slightly taller man, decked out in a full, white military uniform, a glove on his right hand, General Ironwood himself.  
“Ozpin,” Ironwood said, happy to see his old friend.   
“Hello general,” replied Ozpin.   
“Please, drop the formalities. It’s been too long,” Ironwood said, turning to Glynda, “And Glynda! It certainly has been too long since we last met.”  
“Oh James,” she replied with a tone of disinterest, “I’ll be outside.”  
“Well, she hasn’t changed a bit,” Ironwood commented.   
“So,” Ozpin started, getting his mug of coffee before continuing, “What in the world has brought you all the way down from Atlas? Headmasters don’t typically travel with their students for the Vytal Festival,” he handed a mug to Ironwood, who filled it with a little something from his flask as he spoke.   
“Well you know how much I love Vale this time of year. Besides, with you hosting, I thought this would be a good opportunity for us catch up.”  
“I can certainly appreciate quality time between friends,” Ozpin said as he took his seat, before gesturing to the scene outside his window, “However, the small fleet outside my window has me somewhat concerned.”  
“Concern is what brought them here,” responded Ironwood, knowing where this conversation was going.   
Ozpin continued, “I understand travel between kingdoms has become increasingly difficult-“  
“Oz,” Ironwood said firmly, cutting off Ozpin, “You and I both know why I brought those men.”  
Ozpin sighed, “We are in a time of peace,” he said, “Shows of power like this are going to give off the wrong impression.“  
“But if what Qrow said is true,” Ironwood started.   
“If what Qrow said is true,” Ozpin said, interrupting Ironwood, “then we will handle it tactfully. It’s the Vytal Festival; A time to celebrate unity and peace. So, I suggest you not scare people by transporting hundreds of soldiers halfway across the world.”  
“I’m just being cautious,” Ironwood said.   
“As am I,” Ozpin replied, “Which is we will continue train the best huntsmen and huntresses we can.”  
“Believe me, I am,” Ironwood said before turning to leave, as he did, he asked one last question, one that was the reason why he brought his army all this way, “But ask yourself this, do you honestly believe your children can win a war?”  
“I hope they never have to.”

* * *

 

_Three days later_

“Weiss, if you’re not going to do anything, you can just pass,” Leonard said, as the young heiress was taking forever with her turn, he knew Orion hadn’t given her the ‘Politics’ deck, it was too much for a beginner, but Orion had insisted she could handle it, which is why she was currently sitting here with a completely complexed look on her face. The eight sat around the table with their various decks, Leonard’s Drain, Elizabeth’s Voltron, Zinnea’s Dragons, Orion’s Bear Hug, Samantha’s Control, Natalia’s Spellslinger, Blake’s Rogues, and Weiss’s Politics, their game of EDH had been getting slower and slower as Weiss had no idea what she was doing, never even experiencing ‘Ritual’ before today, but she had never let that on to anyone, even though it was clear as day now.   
“Fine,” Weiss grumbled, unhappy with her board state.   
“You’re doing fine,” said Orion, patting the grumpy Weiss on the shoulder.   
“Don’t touch me,” she grumbled, but considering she didn’t slap away the offending hand, it was more of her attitude than anything else.   
“Finally,” Zinnea groaned, she had been waiting for so long that she felt herself going numb in her seat.   
Leonard just chuckled, “You do realize that you still have to wait Zinnea, still not your turn yet. It’s mine.”   
Zinnea just groaned as Leonard got started with his turn, while not a master, he was definitely the most skilled player in the group, and he handled himself as such.   
“Alright, so I’m just going to take the damage from Mogis, draw, play my lands, and then that’s my turn.”  
Leonard’s deck was all about draining life from everyone else, and without either of his finishers, there wasn’t much he could do. The turns continued, with Elizabeth trying to get another piece for her combo, still missing the one piece that could finish the game, and with her out of tutors, she just had to wait on the draw, Orion just continuing to set up his pillow-fort, Zinnea groaned on her turn as she was still missing a major piece of her combo, the only card she couldn’t tutor, ‘Living End’, sat somewhere in her library. Both Samantha and Natalia passed their turns, leaving Blake, who was still not thinking about what was currently happening.   
“Blake,” Zinnea said, snapping the raven-haired Faunas out of her stupor, “It’s your turn.”  
“Oh, yea,” Blake said dazed, she had been like this for three days, “What am I doing again?”  
“Blake, you’re playing Rogues, you are the stealthy deck,” Leonard explained, “You actually wanted to play this deck remember.”  
“Right,” Blake said, still not getting anything she was doing.

While the eight had been having their discussion, Team JNPR was currently studying at a table nearby, and by that, it meant Ren was studying, Nora was asleep, Jaune was reading a comic book, which Pyrrha replaced with a textbook before she got absorbed by the adventures of ‘X-Ray & Vav’ herself. Finally deciding it was time to take an actual break, Jaune wandered over to the exhausting game that SNOW and BLZE were in the middle of.   
“Hey guys,” he said, looking at the complicated mess that was their table, “Can I play?”  
“Sorry Jaune, we’re kind of in the middle of the game,” Leonard apologized, though this was supposed to be a team building exercise, which came to include both teams, Orion’s idea.   
“Besides, this game requires a certain level of tactical cunning, that seriously doubt you possess,” Weiss added.   
Orion took that opportunity to point out something, “Weiss, you took damage from the thing you control, that doesn’t affect you, twice,” Weiss just shot him a glare in response.   
“Bring it on, ice queen,” Jaune challenged, “I’ll have you know that I’ve been told that I’m a natural born leader.”  
“By who,” Weiss asked sarcastically, “Your mother?”  
Elizabeth almost spit up her drink at that comment, Leonard patting her on the back to keep her from choking on water.   
“And Pyrrha,” Jaune added cheerily.   
Weiss looked unimpressed.   
“Come on,” Jaune begged, only slightly because he was bored, “Just let me play your hand for a turn.”  
“There is no way I’m trusting you with my deck,” Weiss said defensively.   
“Weiss,” Orion pointed out, “That’s my deck and it is safe to say that if you have no idea what you’re doing, Jaune has even less. Sorry man.”  
“Oh come on,” Jaune complained, “You’ve trusted me with way more important stuff before, like how Blake is secretly a-“  
Pyrrha rushed over an clamped Jaune’s mouth shut before finishing the sentence, “An amazing person we all admire and respect.”  
Blake just glared at both of them.   
“Yea, that,” Jaune said rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, “Alright, enjoy your battle.”  
Suddenly a voice sounded out from behind Blake, “Sup losers,” it was Sun with the blue-haired boy from the other day.   
“Hey Sun,” Zinnea said.   
“Oh yea,” Sun said, gesturing to the table, “Zinnea, Blake, Leonard, Elizabeth, Natalia, Samantha, Orion, Ice Queen.”  
“Why does everyone call me that,” asked Weiss.   
Ignoring her, Sun continued, “I never got the chance to formally introduce you to my teammate the other day.”  
“Aren’t libraries for reading,” Neptune pointed out.   
“Thank you,” shouted Ren from the nearby table, startling Nora, who muttered something about pancakes before going back to her nap.   
“Shut up,” Sun said, “Don’t be a nerd.”  
“Intellectual,” Neptune retorted, “Thank you. Anyway, I’m Neptune.”  
“So, Neptune, where are you from,” Weiss asked, Leonard and Elizabeth both noticed the tone change.   
“Haven,” Neptune said, strolling up to Weiss, “And I don’t believe I caught your name, snow angel.”  
“Um…I’m Weiss,” the platinum blonde responded, neither paying attention to the others silently placing bets on whether or not Weiss would slap Neptune for the snow angel comment, considering how that went over for Jaune.   
“Pleasure to meet you,” Neptune responded as Jaune mouthed the words, ‘are you kidding me’, in response to the fact that Neptune wasn’t getting smacked upside the head for the line that had gotten him pinned to a locker. A single lien bill was passed to Elizabeth from Leonard.   
“I never took you for the card game type,” said Sun to Blake, looking at her hand and field.   
“Right,” Blake said, “Well, I think I’m done playing, actually. I’ll see you guys later.”  
With that she left the group, leaving Sun confused.   
“Women,” Nora chuckled from the other table.   
“So,” Leonard said, looking at the two new arrivals, “Either of you know how to play EDH.”

 

* * *

 

Blake sat alone in her dorm the events of a few nights ago still fresh in her head, she still couldn’t believe everything that had happened, Torchwick’s words echoed in her head, as well as her own. How ever there was one part of that evening that stood out from everything else, her conversation with Professor Ozpin.   
“Well, this has certainly been an eventful evening,” Ozpin commented, entering the same room he had used to talk to Leonard and Elizabeth months ago, Blake Belladonna already seated at the table, “I’m sure that after a night of thwarting attempted robbery, you probably just want to go home and take a nap,” he paused, taking the seat across from Blake, “But, I was hoping that maybe we could have a chance to talk.”  
“Of course,” said Blake, knowing that she was probably not going to get out of this talk.   
“Wonderful,” Ozpin said, “As you know, in order to enroll at my academy, students must first pass a rigorous entrance exam. Most applicants spend years of preparation, training at one of the many combat schools around the world. You are one of the few who did not. And you passed the exam with flying colors”  
“I was raised outside the kingdoms,” Blake explained, “If you can’t fight, you can’t survive.”  
“Well, you have most certainly survived, Blake,” Ozpin stated, before going into another speech, “I admire your drive, and I am proud to run a school that accepts individuals from all walks of life, rich, poor, human, Faunas.”  
Blake just glared at him, hoping that the question would remained unasked.   
Unfortunately for her, Ozpin asked it anyways, “Why do you wear that bow, Blake? Why hide who you are?”  
“You may be willing to accept the Faunas, Professor Ozpin, but your species is not,” Blake retorted, her reasoning not farfetched seeing how Velvet was treated by Cardin.   
“True,” Ozpin relented, “But we are continuing to take strides to lessen the divide.”  
“With all due respect, you need to start taking some larger strides,” Blake snapped, “Until then, I’d rather avoid any unnecessary attention. I want people to see me for who I am, not what I am.”  
“And what are you,” Ozpin asked, his face devoid of any emotion.   
Blake was caught off guard by the question, “I don’t understand what you’re asking.”  
Ozpin ignored her response and continued, “How did you know the White Fang would be at the shipyard tonight?”   
“I didn’t,” Blake lied, wanting to keep Sun out of trouble, “I just happened to be at the right place at the right time.”  
“You wouldn’t have been the first,” added Ozpin, “but what happened tonight was not an isolated incident,” Ozpin continued, “I may be your headmaster, but I am also a huntsman, and it is my sworn duty to protect this world from the forces that conspire against it. Blake, are you sure there is nothing else you would like to tell me?”  
Blake thought about telling him about what Torchwick had said, but decided against, “I’m sure,” was her only answer.   
“Very well,” Ozpin said, getting up to leave, Blake unsure if he was convinced or not, “Thank you for your time, Ms. Belladonna. If you ever need to talk to me, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

* * *

 

“We should have never let him play,” Leonard said angrily, it had been a few hours, but their game finally over, everyone decided to return to their dorms.   
“You’re just mad ‘cuz the new guy beat you,” teased Elizabeth, Leonard rolled his eyes and smiled, the statement not completely untrue, “If you had just been more aggressive like I suggested, you could’ve won.”  
The pair had entered the room with Zinnea, Orion, and Weiss in tow, the two members of Team SNOW wanted to talk with Leonard about something. Blake, seeing them enter, got up to leave.   
“Stop,” Weiss said commandingly, noticing Blake was trying to leave and stopped her seconds before she did, “Lately you’ve been quiet, anti-social, and moody.”  
“Weiss, have you met Blake,” Zinnea pointed out.   
Weiss ignored her, continuing her speech, “Which I get is kind of your ‘thing’, but you’ve been doing it more than usual since that night, which quite frankly, is unacceptable. You made a promise to your team, to me, to all of us that you would tell us if something was wrong. So, Blake Belladonna, What is wrong?!”  
During the speech she had gotten up on a chair and had gotten a little overdramatic, Orion sighing because of how his partner could be in certain situations.  
Putting back the chair, Weiss continued to stare down Blake until the Faunas finally decided to talk about what was on her mind.   
“I just,” she started, taking a deep breath, “I don’t understand how everyone can be so calm.”  
“You’re still thinking about Torchwick,” Elizabeth said, the reasoning obvious.   
“Torchwick, the White Fang, all of it,” Blake said, exasperated, but glad to get this off her chest, “Something big is happening no one is doing anything about it!”  
“Ozpin told us not to worry,” Orion pointed out, “Between the police and the local huntsmen, I’m sure they can handle it.”  
“Well, I’m not,” shouted Blake, at this point, Samantha and Natalia has joined them, “They don’t know the White Fang like I do.”  
Zinnea just shrugged, Blake did have a good point.   
“Okay,” Weiss said, trying to calm the situation, “Between, stopping two separate robberies and one fight for freedom, plus all the training we have had over the past few months, I’m sure you guys totally think you are all ready to go out and apprehend these ne’er-do-wells, but allow me to be the voice of reason, we’re students, we’re not ready to handle this sort of situation.”  
“Well yeah, but,” Leonard started to say before Weiss interrupted him.   
“We are not ready!”  
“And we may never be ready,” shouted Blake, “Our enemies aren’t going to sit around waiting for graduation day! They’re out there, somewhere, planning their next move, and none of us know what it is, but it is coming! Whether we’re ready or not!”  
“Alright,” Orion said, pointing at Blake and Samantha, “You two are them team leaders here, are we doing this or not?”  
“I’m in,” Zinnea said, looking at Blake, “I love it when you’re feisty.”  
“Alright,” Blake said, “If we’re all in agreement, let’s hatch a plan.”  
“Wait,” Leonard screamed, looking around frantically, “I left my deck in the library!”  
As he rushed off Weiss shook her head, “We are so doomed.”

* * *

 

“I’ll be right back,” Leonard shouted as rushed back to the library, crashing into a few students before he was more than a few feet from the dorm, sending the boy of the group sprawling to the ground.   
“Sorry,” he said, as the darker of the two girls offered him a helping hand, “Are you okay?”  
“He’ll be fine,” the girl said, the boy on the ground giving a thumbs up, “Just watch where you’re going.”  
“Right,” Leonard said sheepishly, “Sorry. I’m Leonard, are you new?”  
“Visiting from Haven,” said the third girl, Leonard could’ve sworn he had seen her before, but he was a little too tired to care.”  
“Oh,” he responded, “You’re here for the festival. But exchange students have their dormitory.”  
“I guess we just got turned around,” said the boy, surprisingly not as miffed as Leonard expected him to be.   
“Its fine,” Leonard said as they walked past, “Your building should be to the east of here.”  
“Thanks,” one of the girl’s responded, her sultry tone sounded weird for a student, “Maybe we’ll see you around.”  
Leonard shrugged, “Maybe, and by the way, welcome to Beacon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that was a super long chapter, kind of to make up for the shorter one that was Chapter 1, but I kind of regret it when it came to writing this...don't worry, we'll have more normal chapters starting next time, but for now, you will have to suffer through this. Next time will be more action, and an explanation on why a certain Rose is in the character listing for this chapter.   
> Also, Natalia's semblance got a quick reveal, anyone catch it?
> 
> As for the EDH thing...I play a lot of MTG, so I wanted Leonard to have it as side hobby, and kind of made it something Elizabeth and Orion play as well.  
> For basic EDH stuff on the decks, I think the best way to put it for the various decks would be like this:  
> Leonard: Karlov Life Drain(WB)  
> Elizabeth: Alesha Voltron(WBR)  
> Zinnea: Scion(Five Color) Dragons(WUBRG)  
> Orion: K&T Bear Hug(WURG)  
> Samantha: Oloro Control(WUB)  
> Natalia: Jori En Spellslinger(UR)  
> Blake: Sygg Rogues/Ninjas(UB)  
> Weiss: Xira Arien Politics(BRG)


	4. Chapter 3: First Hunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teams BLZE and SNOW start their first hunt, the hunt for the next move of the enemy, hoping they could stop it before it gets out their control.

This was going to be the longest class of Weiss Schnee’s life, it was literally two or so minutes until this boring class with Professor Port was done, and she was about ready to die of boredom. Just before she thought it couldn’t get any worse, Jaune Arc started talking to her, the blond just could not take then hint, she wasn’t interested in him, but nope, he just had to keep trying.  
“So Weiss, you know, I was thinking, maybe after class we could go grab a bite to eat,” the blond asked, before adding more offers, “And, you know well, I’ve got two tickets to the new Spruce Willis movie if you want to take a trip to Vale. I hear it’s awesome. And then, maybe after we could, study together? I mean you’re smart and I’m a, you know…”  
The bell rang, ending the class, leaving Port saying the stunning conclusion to his story would have to wait until next class.  
As Weiss got up to leave, Jaune asked her if she had been listening.  
“No, no, no, yes,” she answered, shooting down all of his offers and leaving him with his head down on his desk, disappointed with how that happened.  
“You’ll find someone,” Orion said as he walked past, patting the depressed Jaune on the back.

Back in the Team BLZE dorm, everyone made their last equipment checks, Elizabeth checked her ammunition, Zinnea activate her gauntlets, the claws popping out before sliding back in, Weiss made sure her rapier was secured, Samantha and Natalia doing a last check on their outfits, Blake wrapped her forearms in extra ribbons.  
“I thought that class would never end,” commented Leonard, who was grabbing something from a drawer on the bedside table he shared with Elizabeth.  
“Alright, today’s the day guys,” Zinnea cheerily announced, landing from her bed in front of Weiss, “The investigation begins!”  
“I’m glad to see we’re taking this so seriously,” Weiss said sarcastically, brushing off her white pea-coat.  
“We got a plan,” Orion pointed out, “That’s moderately serious.”  
“Right,” agreed Samantha, “Everyone remember their roles?”  
Weiss was the first to start, “Orion and I will head down to the CCT and check the Schnee records for any other Dust robberies or inconsistencies. Seeing as I’m in the family, it shouldn’t be a problem.”  
“The White Fang has regular faction meeting to hand out orders and recruit new members,” Blake explained, “I’ll take Zinnea, if we can get in, I can hopefully find out what they’re planning.”  
“Elizabeth and I are going to see Samuel again,” Leonard continued, “I explained to him what’s going on and he might have something that can help us, even without any boosts from him, Weiss can send a copy of any documents she and Orion might find to him, an extra set of eyes could find something that might be overlooked.”  
“Meanwhile,” Natalia started, her glare causing Weiss’s retort to die in her throat, “There’s an old contact of my father’s on the shady side of town. Samantha and I should be able to get something out of him considering he seems to always know what’s going on in this city.”  
“Great,” Blake said, “We’ll meet up tonight near Natalia and Samantha to go over what we found. Hopefully we’ll have something after tonight. Let do this!”  
“Yeah,” a voice said, coming from the open window, the eight turned to see a certain Monkey Faunas hanging upside down in front of the window.  
“Sun,” Blake exclaimed, “How did you get up there?”  
“It’s easy,” Sun responded, “I do it all the time.”  
“You do what,” questioned Weiss.  
“I climb trees all the time,” he said, flipping himself into the room through the open window, “So, are we finally getting back at that Torchwick guy?”  
“We,” Blake said, gesturing to the eight in the room, “Are going to investigate the situation.”  
“We’ve been planning this for two weeks,” added Samantha.  
“Sorry Sun,” apologized Zinnea, “We don’t want to get anyone else involved if we don’t have to, especially friends”  
“That’s dumb,” Sun said, “You should always get friends involved, that’s why I brought Neptune.”  
Leonard, Blake, Samantha, and Weiss all looked out the window, seeing the blue-haired huntsman standing on the very thin ledge that ran along the side of the school.  
“Sup,” said Neptune.  
“How the…” Leonard started to ask, unable to finish his sentence due to his confusion.  
“I have my ways,” responded Neptune, “Seriously though, can I come in, we’re really high up right now.”

After helping Neptune inside, the two teams discussed what they were going to do with their two new associates.  
“I can take Sun,” Blake said, “We don’t know how deep we may be getting with the Fang, so extra back up would be nice.”  
“Alright,” Weiss said, sidling herself up to the blue haired boy, “I guess Neptune could come with me and Orion.”  
“Weiss, you’re going to get files from your father’s company,” Leonard commented, “I really don’t think you need three people to do that.”  
“Do you want to take him,” Weiss retorted.  
“No,” Leonard answered, “Where I’m going, I don’t need any more guests, Samuel has enough as is. I thought he could go with Samantha and Natalia, they’re going somewhere where back up might be necessary.”  
Natalia gave Leonard a quizzical look, shrugging when Samantha agreed with Leonard.  
“But,” Weiss started, only to be dragged off by Orion.  
“Come on, Ice Queen,” Orion said as they left, “We can work on melting your heart later, for now we got shit to do.”

 

* * *

 

_Two hours later_

Weiss and Orion were down at the CCT in the center of downtown Vale, the massive structure towered over the entire city, the top of it being a broadcaster that connected Vale to all of Remnant.  
“Damn,” Orion said, looking up at the building, “Always forget how big this thing really is.”  
“You should see the one in Atlas,” Weiss smirked.  
“That was the first one, wasn’t it,” asked Orion.  
“Correct,” stated Weiss as she went into the history of the CCTs, “Atlas developed the cross-continental transmit system to allow the four kingdoms to communicate with one another. It was their gift to the world after the Great War.”  
“Ladies and gentleman, the lovely fact machine, Weiss Schnee,” Orion teased.  
“Don’t be a pest,” Weiss scolded, “Besides, it was your idea to go out all this way. We could have easily made this call from the library.”  
“I thought it would be nice to get out for a while,” Orion said, “Even though you don’t show it, you really need to do walks like this more often…” His thought trailed off as he saw someone familiar, Weiss stopped to try and see what had Orion distracted, that’s when she saw the short red hair, bobbed just below the jawline, a large pink bow to top it all off.  
Cautiously, Orion approached her, “Excuse me,” he said, putting a hand on the shoulder of the young girl, turning around, the girl revealed eyes a soft green, “Penny?”  
The girl’s eyes went wide, unsure of what to say, she just stared as Orion started to ask a torrent of questions, “Where have you been?! We haven’t seen you since that night at the docks.”  
“Sorry,” Penny quickly said, interrupting him, “I think you’re confused,” she hiccupped, “I’ve got to go.”  
She left without even saying goodbye, leaving both Orion and Weiss confused.  
“What was that about,” asked Weiss.  
“No idea,” said Orion, “But I’m going to find out. Go make the call, I’ll meet up with you later!”  
“Wait,” Weiss shouted as Orion ran after Penny, grumbling as she watched her partner run after the redhead, “Stubborn, caring oaf.”

“Penny,” Orion called out, running up to the redhead and cutting her off, “Where have you been?! It’s been weeks.”  
Penny looked at him confused, “There seems to be a misunderstanding,” she said, but Orion could see the truth, he couldn’t sense her emotions, but he had always been good with reading people, the way her eyes went wide when he said her name, she was scared.  
“Penny,” he said as she walked away, “Is everything okay? Penny, please, stop!”  
Grabbing her by the arm, Orion tried to talk some sense into the Atlesian, “Look, I don’t know what’s wrong. But please, just listen to me. Those guys you fought at the docks with Leonard, we think they’re up to something big, something bad. I need you to tell me what happened to you that night. Please, for your friend.”  
Penny sighed, looking around, she got close to Orion, “It isn’t safe to talk her,” she whispered into Orion’s ear, then told him to meet her near a café in half an hour.

* * *

 

While Orion was trying to talk to their awkward associate, Weiss continued on their mission, entering the CCT, she made her way straight into one of the elevators.  
As she entered the elevator, the mechanical voice started talking.  
“Hello, welcome to the CCT. How may I help you?’  
“I’d like to go to the communications room please,” Weiss answered.  
“Absolutely,” responded the intercom, “Could you please place your scroll on the terminal to verify your identity.”  
Weiss did as instructed, after a few seconds, the terminal beeped, scan complete.  
“Perfect,” the voice stated, “Thank you Miss Schnee.”  
Weiss smiled for a second, then frowned, the smiled again, before sighing, she loved hearing her name said like that, but at the same time, there was a bitter taste to it, it wasn’t anyone else’s fault, only her own, she wanted to be more than a Schnee, but she loved being treated like one.

The elevator opened to a room, computer terminals all over the room, several had people in them, but most were empty, even with the ability to talk across with those across the world, many huntsman and huntresses at Beacon had family close by, or a family that they no longer had communication with. Above the place were holograms, showing the time in the various kingdoms.  
As Weiss approached the desk, a hologram of a young woman appeared, Weiss knew she wasn’t real, just a recording.  
“Welcome to the Vale Cross-Continental Transmit,” the woman stated, “How may I be of assistance?”  
“I need to make a call to Schnee Company World Headquarters in Atlas,” Weiss answered, hoping this wouldn’t take too long.  
“Absolutely,” replied the hologram, “If you head over to terminal 3, I’ll patch you through.”  
Weiss thanked the hologram as she walked over, not that it was necessary, but her father did always teach her to be polite. As she walked to the terminal, she heard others talking to family across the world, the girl across from her was in a conversation with her mother at Signal, Weiss sometimes wished she could have that kind of relationship with her family.  
As she sat down, she sighed, not wanting to do this, but needing to do, Blake was right, there was something big going on, and she would rather be damned than not sit by and do nothing.  
The screen lit up, a young woman a few years older than Weiss was on the other end, “Thank you for calling the Atlas-“ the woman paused when she realized who she was talking to, “Oh, Miss Schnee, good afternoon! Would you like me to patch you through to your father, I think your sister Winter might be here as well.”  
“No thank you,” Weiss replied politely, not wanting to speak to her father, but knew the young secretary was just trying to be helpful, so Weiss instead went straight to her request, “I was just wondering if you could find some files for me. I’ve compiled a short list.”  
Weiss proceeded to insert her scroll into the slot on the terminal, sending the list to the young woman, who looked at it quizzically.  
“I see,” she said, “If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly is all this for?”  
“School project,” Weiss half-lied, hoping that was enough.  
The woman looked convinced, but was still concerned, “There are some sensitive documents on this list, ma’am.”  
“Well then,” responded Weiss, “I’ll be sure to treat them with care.”  
“Very well,” the secretary responded, almost like she should have shrugged right then and there, “The data is being transferred to your scroll now.”  
“Wonderful, that will be all then,” Weiss responded, wanting this conversation to be over.  
“Are you sure you don’t want me to patch me through to your father before you go,” the question felt like a ball of lead in Weiss’s stomach, just hating the fact she had to ignore him like this, why wouldn’t he just let her be.  
“Yes,” Weiss responded with a fake smile, trying to hide her anxiety, “I’m sure.”  
“Well then, have a nice day, Miss Schnee.”  
The screen faded to black, leaving Weiss Schnee staring at the sad reflection of herself.

 

* * *

 

_Elsewhere in the city_

Penny stood in front in the café she had asked Orion to meet her at, she was a little early, but was still nervous that the taller boy wouldn’t show. Suddenly there was a hand on her shoulder, jumping back a little, Penny saw a gentle smile on Orion’s face, a simple way to let her know he was here for her.  
As they started their walk, Penny’s suggestions, they talked about what had happened that night, “I wish I could help Orion, but I don’t know anything about those men.”  
Orion just sighed, expecting that answer, but instead shifted the conversation to what happened to Penny afterwards, “Well, what happened to you? We were all together and you just disappeared. Were you kidnapped?”  
“Oh no,” Penny responded in surprise, “Nothing like that!”  
“Well then where did you go,” asked Orion.  
“I’ve never been to another kingdom before,” responded Penny, not immediately answering the question, but getting there, “My father asked me not to venture out to far, but, you must understand, my father loves me very much. He just worries a lot.”  
“Believe me, I know the feeling,” Orion said with a smirk, thinking back to how careful his parents were with him he was younger, not that he was fragile, it was the opposite back then, when his semblance had been too much, he had almost torn down the house a couple times when he was a young child.  
Penny had a small smile as Orion asked his next question, “But, why not let us know you were okay?”  
“I was asked not to talk to you,” Penny stated, “Or Weiss, Or Leonard, anybody really.”  
“Dad that upset,” jokingly asked Orion, a little concerned by that request.  
“It wasn’t my father’s,” Penny said, eyes no longer wanting to meet Orion’s.

Before Orion could even ask who made that request, the two her a loudspeaker coming from the nearby park, turning the corner, they saw a ‘demonstration’, it was Atlas, showing off their latest developments.  
“The AK-130 has been a standard security model of Remnant for several years. And they’ve done a fine job, wouldn’t you agree,” the speaker was none other than General Ironwood, the headmaster of the Atlas Academy, while not there in person, had holographic projection of him talking about the latest advancements in Atlas tech, “But, the kingdom of Atlas is a kingdom of innovation. And fine, well that’s just not good enough is it?”  
On cue, the containers behind the AK-130’s opened, revealing new, sleeker machines. As they exited, they stomped on the bowed older models, a symbolic shift to the new generation.  
“Presenting, the Atlesian Knights,” the hologram announced to a round of applause, “Smarter, sleeker, and admittedly, a little less scary. These models will become active in a few months, but they won’t be alone. Now, the Atlesian Military has always supported the idea of removing men from the dangers of the battlefield. However, there are still many situations that undoubtedly require a human touch.”  
Orion felt himself engrossed with the display, he barely noticed the nervousness and concern on Penny’s face.  
The general continued, “So, our kingdoms greatest minds, in cooperation with the Schnee Dust Company are proud to introduce,” the hologram of the general disappeared, replaced by a mech of incredible size, “The Atlesian Paladin!”  
The crowd cheered, before going silent as the voice of the general continued to talk about the behemoth on display, “Now we couldn’t have them here for you today, but these mechanized battle suits will be seen defending the borders of our kingdom within the year!”  
“Damn,” Orion whispered.  
“Orion, Maybe we should go somewhere else” Penny pleaded.  
Two Atlesian soldiers spotted the pair, or more specifically the spotted Penny, who dashed off in an instant.  
“Wait,” Orion shouted, running after Penny, “Where are you going?”  
Orion ran after Penny, confused with what exactly was going on, chasing the poor girl, he continued to yell.  
“Penny, what is going on?”  
Penny continued to run, going across several side streets, and through back alleys, Orion knocking several crates over to slow down anyone else pursuing them.  
“Penny,” he shouted, “Stop.”  
Surprisingly the young girl did, right in the middle of the street. That’s when Orion heard a truck horn, before he could even say anything, Penny took notice of the situation, but instead of dodging, she stopped the truck with her bare hands. The impact caused asphalt to rupture, a small crater had formed around Penny, as all the shock of the impact had dispersed around her.  
“Are you okay,” Penny asked the driver, who just nodded.  
Stepping back from the truck, she looked around, at the destruction she had caused, at her hands, the skin torn away, revealing what was beneath, at Orion who could only stare, not sure of what he had just witnessed, and at the crowd forming, people talking about what she had just seen.  
“Penny,” Orion weakly said, as the young girl looked around, the fear on her face growing more apparent by the second, but Orion felt something, almost like she wasn’t real, but that was impossible, he had only met this girl twice, but in that time, he had someone more alive than some actual people, but he couldn’t feel a thing. He just stood by as the girl ran, he himself disappearing into the crowd that had formed, avoiding the Atlesian soldiers who had been chasing Penny.

 

* * *

 

_Across town_

Leonard and Elizabeth arrived at Samuel’s, after a few seconds of waiting for him to open the door, they were greeted by a much cleaner looking boy from the last time they were here, his scruff gone, the bags under his eyes still there, but much less prominent than before.  
“You finally got better at dealing with the kids,” Elizabeth joked.  
“Sort of,” Samuel replied, “Miza and I have gotten some much needed sleep ever since we got someone to deal with them.”  
“You found a babysitter for a pair of ghost kids,” Leonard asked, “You do realize how ridiculous that sounds.”  
“Not exactly what happened,” Samuel said, the hazel-eyed brunette got the look he had last time he surprised Leonard, which had been the gloves, but that was years ago, so Leonard was curious what it was this time, “I should probably introduce you, well, re-introduce.”  
As the two entered their tech genius’s abode, they saw a familiar sight, one that filled Leonard with a new sense of anger, playing with Yang and Ruby was a new ghost, she was a lot like Ruby, long brown hair flowed down her back, the ends tipped with red, a white cloak covered most of her form, turning to the two new arrivals, she revealed eyes of silver, and the same cheerful smile of the woman that had been the heart of two teams.  
“Hello Leonard.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that felt both boring and interesting to write, it's hard to get all eight of them into the story, fortunately, this 'story' is split into two parts, so more on what happens with Leonard, Elizabeth, and their new ghost(though if you've been paying attention to the character lists, there are spoilers), as well as the adventures of BZS and SNN next chapter.


	5. Chapter 4: The Spark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teams BLZE and SNOW continue their first hunt, what they find might be more than even they can handle.

“Summer,” Leonard said weakly, the woman’s ghost being another thing he would never see again.  
Finding his voice after several seconds of staring in disbelief at the woman in front of him, he found his tone once again tinged with anger, he had never wanted this, but he could never truly blame Ruby, she was too young to know the consequences, Summer on the other hand.  
“Why,” he asked, shaking as the anger rose within him, “Why did you have to leave like that?! Why did you burden me with this?! I never wanted this, I just wanted a normal life, to be someone, not a fucking monster! I don’t want this curse!”  
“I’m sorry,” Summer yelled, startling everyone, “I’m sorry, I never knew it was going to be you.”  
“What,” Leonard was stunned, “You knew this was going to happen.”  
“The cycle needed to be continued,” She explained, “I just never knew that you were going to be the one who came next.”  
“What are you talking about,” asked Samuel, who was even more confused than Leonard.  
“The names of her parents are most likely lost to time,” Summer stated, “But the first one with silver eyes was the child of two people, a person cursed with death’s touch, and the one person in the world who was immune to their touch. She was the first, but if the story is correct, she was told that if the silver eyes were to ever die out, the cycle would reset, and the next generation would be one of vengeance.”  
“Vengeance,” Leonard said, “But you committed suicide. How do I avenge the death of someone who took their own life?”  
“That’s what they thought what happened,” Summer said, she sounded distance, “Well, I was home alone, there was no way they could’ve known.”  
“Excuse me,” Leonard said, he didn’t know what she was talking about.  
“I was murdered,” Summer continued, “I have no idea how they got in, but they poisoned me, and made it seem like I had killed myself, I have no idea how this happened, but it did, I was getting better, it was hard, but I was finally accepting that they were gone, I wanted to continue my life, making the world better so no one would lose their children like I did ever again,” she paused, trying to steady herself, “But she had different plans, I don’t know who they were, but I’m certain they were with _her_.”  
“Salem,” Leonard muttered, realizing how little sense this made, but it did, everything fell into place, and the thought of that scared him.

While Leonard caught up with another part of his past, Elizabeth went to Samuel for the other thing they had come for, handing him the Dust vials Leonard had grabbed before leaving, a gift from Mr. Riku for helping that one time, she asked the obvious question, “You sure this will work?”  
“Positive,” Samuel replied, pulling out the devices he was working on, a small set of grenades, “I tested a few myself, though Junior’s goons weren’t too happy about being the guinea pigs, at least they got compensation.”  
Elizabeth didn’t even want to know what that was about, “Alright then, so I just put the Dust vials in, then what, just pull the pin and throw.”  
“Basically,” Samuel chuckled, “Just don’t hold them for too long, the sticky mode goes into effect after three seconds, while you shouldn’t have trouble, the sticky are magnetic, so it will stick to Leonard’s gloves.”  
“Noted,” Leonard responded, surprising Elizabeth, “Also, we have another reason for coming, but I think I should let the heiress explain that.”  
Leonard held up his scroll, a picture of Weiss Schnee on it, along with the bar saying files were being downloaded.  
“Elizabeth,” the scroll said, the heiress’s tone still getting across, “can you explain to me what the heck that was about?’  
Elizabeth looked at Leonard, “Did you-“  
“Yes,” Leonard answered before Elizabeth could even finish the question.  
Elizabeth sighed, “Samuel has guests,” she explained to Weiss, “They’re a little rowdy, and eager. Under different circumstances, I think you’d like them. Anyways, that’s not important right now, what did you guys find?”  
They could both hear Weiss thinking about questioning what Elizabeth had said, but ultimately deciding against it, “ _I_ got some files, a large amount of Dust records, but I found the shipment Torchwick was after last time, and there’s some stuff on here that’s encrypted, not sure what it is, but you said your friend might be able to help.”  
“The Schnee family,” Samuel said, smirking, “Humble as always.”  
“You don’t have to be such an ass about it,” snapped Weiss, not being able to see the new annoyance, but she knew the voice was not Elizabeth or Leonard.  
“I know,” teased Samuel, “But considering who you just called, I was hoping it would have been a challenge.”  
“And what is that supposed to mean,” asked Weiss.  
“Ever wonder who designed the encryptions your father’s company uses, I mean, as advanced as Atlas is, they all have to learn their genius from somewhere”  
Weiss was silent for several seconds, “You’re kidding, right?”  
“Nope,” Samuel said, popping the ‘p’, a bad habit he had picked up from Yang, “And it just so happens, that I got a backdoor into all the encryptions I design, it’s mostly for maintenance work and emergencies, and since this could count as the latter, let’s see what we got.”

 

* * *

 

_Several blocks down_

A car went speeding around the last corner, before abruptly parking right next to a club. ‘The Ursa’s Den’ was one of the shadier clubs in town, home to the underground DJ, DeathBear, it was normally a place for people to party after a long week of work. Despite it being a Friday, the place was fairly dead, a few regulars and not much else, an oddity that didn’t upset Natalia too much, as it was also home to the top information broker in Vale, Hei ‘Junior’ Xiong, owner and manager of the joint. The last time Natalia had been here, Junior’s father, Da Xiong was still in charge, but he had moved to Mistral to work for her father, that had been years ago, before she had met Samantha.  
“We’re here,” she said as she pulled up, getting out of the car first before getting the door for her girlfriend.  
From the back seat, their ‘backup’, Neptune Vasilias, was still trying to recover from the drive, Natalia’s driving was not for the faint of heart.  
“Cool,” he muttered, slowly getting out of the car, “And where exactly is here?”

Junior Xiong adjusted his tie, looking around, the boys had cleaned up his club quite well, despite the fact that the madman that lived a few blocks had decided to blow this place to bits as an ‘experiment’ a few days ago. Sure he had paid them back, but the place was still dead because word had gotten out, and now people were scared to even show up to his club. The incident had even put his men on edge, a fact that was quite apparent when the two bouncers had rushed inside, trying to close the door behind them.  
“What are you two idiots doing,” he asked, absolutely confused and exasperated, he didn’t want to be dealing with anything right now.  
The two started yelling something about how some Huntsman had showed up at the door before it was busted open behind them.  
“I just had that fixed,” Junior shouted.

The three ‘intruders’ soon found themselves staring down the barrel of every goon in the establishment, the exception being DeathBear, who’s equipment had been knocked out of tune when the doors were busted open, the current record skipping every few seconds before he finally crawled out from behind his booth and turned it off.  
“So is this what Leonard meant when he said you needed backup,” Neptune asked, poking his head out from behind the two girls, who were one hundred percent ready to throw down.  
“Whoa,” Junior shouted as he pushed through, “Stop! Nobody shoot!”  
He paused, looking over the two girls who had just walked in, “How can I help you,” he asked, perplexed on why he couldn’t shake the thought that he recognized the redhead.  
“We need information, Little Bear,” Natalia said, dragging Junior to the bar, Samantha in tow, the look on the man’s face one of terror as he realized the young redhead was a Tisoki.  
“Whoa, what a woman,” Neptune said before turning to the two girls that made up Junior’s entourage, “Sup.”  
The two girls scoffed and walked off, not wanting anything to do with the womanizer.

 

* * *

 

_Elsewhere_

Blake put her hand up to the scratch marks on the wall, running her fingers along the three marks, she peered around the corner, seeing an older gentleman let two young Faunas teens into the building, she turned to Zinnea and Sun.  
“This is it,” she whispered.  
“You sure,” Sun asked, earning himself a glare from both the girls, “Y’know, I’m just gonna take your word for it.”  
As they approached the older gentleman, a wolf faunas himself, his swishing tail almost hidden by his long coat, Blake removed her ribbon, revealing her cat ears, she and Sun got by with ease, but Zinnea was stopped by the man, her leather jacket covering up her wings, she instead flashed the fangs in her mouth, while telling the old man to give it a rest, her pupils turning into slits in anger. She was let through after that.  
“You didn’t have to make him almost piss himself,” Sun commented.  
“Of course I did,” Zinnea responded, “he questioned my species, I put him in his place, besides if I really wanted him to piss himself, I would’ve singed off his eyebrows.”  
Blake led them deeper into the warehouse that was the meeting place, Sun looked at his mask.  
“I don’t get it,” he said, causing the three to stop, “if you believe what you’re doing is right, why hide who you are?”  
“The masks are a symbol,” Blake explained, “Humanity wanted to makes monsters out of us, so we chose to don the faces of monsters.”  
Zinnea ran her fingers along her mask, “Grimm masks,” she commented, “That’s kind of dark.”  
“So was the guy who started it,” Blake responded, slipping her mask on as Zinnea did the same.  
“Always sunshine and rainbows with you,” Sun muttered, before following the two.  
As they entered, a Fang member told them to keep to the right, which they did, finding themselves in the middle of the crowd, Zinnea immediately looked around for an escape route, if necessary, while Blake and Sun started listening to the speech that was given.  
“Thank you all for coming,” said the man on stage, Blake recognized him as Jason Vooheea, the behemoth use to be a friend of Blake’s, the juggernaut of some of their more forward missions; he was someone Blake never wanted to fight. She also noticed with her gone, he had become Adam’s new lieutenant.  
Jason continued, snapping Blake out of her thoughts, “For those of you who are joining us for the first time tonight, allow me to introduce a very special comrade of ours. I can assure you, he is the key to obtaining what we have fought for so long.”  
Out of the shadows stepped Roman Torchwick, with the many of the new recruits jeering the criminal.  
“Thank you,” he said mockingly, not caring about the insults and jeers, “Thank you! Please, hold your applause!”  
“What’s a human doing here,” shouted the deer Faunas in front of Blake.  
“I’m glad you asked,” Roman said, “Now, I’ll be the first admit, humans are the WORST! Case in point. So I understand you would love to see us all locked away, or better yet; killed!”  
“So,” Sun whispered to Blake, “Is he going somewhere with this or…”  
He didn’t finish that thought as Roman had continued, “I would like to point out that you and I ALL have a common enemy. The ones in control, the people pulling the strings, the dirty, rotten, humans that run our kingdoms. Government. Military. Even the schools. They’re all to blame for your lot in life,” that line received several cheers from the crowd, “And they’re all pests that need to be dealt with. Fortunately, I’m the best exterminator around. No offense to any of the rodents in the room.”  
Snapping his fingers, the large curtain with the Fang’s symbol fell, revealing a very large mech behind it, the same symbol sprayed along one shoulder, the crowd cheering in response.  
“That’s a really big robot,” Sun commented.  
“No shit, genius,” Zinnea responded, her scroll buzzing for some reason, they were deep undercover, so she would have to answer that later.  
“How did he get that,” Blake asked.  
As some of you may have heard,” Roman continued, “this right here is Atlas’ newest line of defense against all the scary things in the world. And thanks to my employer, we’ve managed to snag a few before they…hit the shelves, this one in particular is the biggest one we managed to ‘procure’, the rest are slightly smaller,” he paused, before continuing with more information that the three ‘spies’ in the crowd needed, “Now, many of your brothers have already moved to our new operation in the south east. If you’d rather stay in the city, that’s fine. But if you’re truly ready to fight for what you believe in, this is the arsenal I can provide for you.”  
As the audience cheered, Blake looked around, “We need to get out of here,” she said, her scroll now buzzing like crazy as well.  
“Will all new recruits lease come forward,” someone shouted.

 

* * *

 

_Samuel’s_

“Oh shit,” Samuel said, the decrypted files sitting open on his computer, at this point Miza had come over as well, the four staring at the screen.  
“Is that what I think it is,” Leonard asked, the giant mech on screen made him feel uneasy.  
“Unfortunately,” Samuel said, “That’s an Atlesian Paladin 290-H, a heavy class battle-mech, it was part of the shipment Torchwick attempted to steal that one night, and it was in the containers he managed to actually get away with.”  
“Meaning what exactly,” Elizabeth asked, hoping the answer was something good.  
“It means, he has this thing, probably still in the city,” Samuel grimaced.  
“Shit,” Leonard hissed, realizing what this meant, pulling out his scroll, “Blake and Zinnea went after the Fang, they said they were going to spy on them, if Torchwick’s in the city, and he has that thing with him, they are in way over their heads, we need to let them know before it’s too late.”  
He tried to call Zinnea first, getting the voice mail, he just swore, “Fucking Dust, of course she ignores her scroll now of all times.”  
After a few attempts, Elizabeth placed a hand on Leonard’s shoulder, trying to calm the boy, “Let me try Blake’s,” she said, pulling her scroll and attempting to call their team leader, after several seconds, she looked back up, “Nothing.”  
“Fuck,” Leonard shouted, “I’ll keep trying to call them, you get the others on the line, let them know what is going on.”  
“Guys,” Samuel said, drawing over Leonard, who was still trying to call the two Faunas that were his teammates, “There’s something else.”  
“What,” Leonard asked, not angry at Samuel, but exasperated by the current situation.  
“Something called ‘Project: Crusader’,” Samuel said, “I don’t know how, but they got it above my backdoor access, this is going to take a while,” Samuel paused, looking at his two friends, “Look you two, be safe out there, Miza and I have been talking Summer ever since she got here, whatever we’re going up against is ancient, we may be in over our heads.”  
Leonard sighed, looking between Elizabeth and Samuel, “We’re going to need them all, aren’t we?”  
Elizabeth knew who he meant, she just nodded before calling Weiss, Orion, and Samantha.

 

* * *

 

_The Ursa’s Den_

“I don’t know,” Junior said, putting down his drink.  
“How can you not know,” Natalia asked, annoyed by the answer.  
“I haven’t talked to him,” Junior retorted, “I haven’t seen him in months, the last time he was here was two days before his first attempt of robbing some little Dust shop by the docks, he hired some of my guys to help him, he even paid upfront, and none of them have come back.”  
“So where did they go,” asked Neptune, who had almost materialized next Natalia.  
“What kind of stupid question is that,” spat Junior, “They never came back! Who the fuck is this guy?”  
Natalia just gave Neptune a dismissive glance before pushing him away, telling him to go bother the twins or something before turning back to Junior.  
“Don’t worry about him, worry about me if I don’t find what I want,” her threats were very real as she could tear this place down, either with just her partner, or her father could make sure this place never opened again.  
“I already told you everything,” Junior shouted, “Torchwick hired my men and I guess he wasn’t happy with them. Which is something I can relate to,” that last part was aimed at his men, since he was not happy with how they had reacted to the guest that was the daughter of his dad’s boss, or the attack that had occurred a few days prior.  
Natalia stared Junior down for a few seconds before turning around and calling out for two people that had come with her.  
“Samantha, Neptune, we’re leaving.”  
“We get everything we need,” asked Neptune.  
“Everything we can,” replied Natalia, “Hopefully everyone else is having better luck.”

As they approached the door, Samantha was already there, talking on her scroll.  
“Weiss,” Samantha said, trying to calm the constantly aggravated heiress, “I’m certain Orion didn’t leave you because he thought the trip would be boring.”  
“Of course not,” Orion’s voice coming through the scroll, “I was worried about Penny, she was acting weird, and to be honest, I have no idea what exactly I witnessed today, but she stopped a truck with her bare hands, so I just hope she’s okay.”  
“Alright then,” said another voice, Natalia recognized it as Elizabeth, “it seems the only person who was able to get information we can actually use at this time appears to be Weiss.”  
“You’re welcome,” Weiss said haughtily.  
“As she got us some files that Samuel was able to decrypt that told us exactly what Torchwick was after, and what exactly he stole. Most of the crates were Dust, but the ones he got away with were not, they were parts for an Atlesian Paladin 290-H,” Elizabeth sighed, “Which brings us to our problem. That mech is most likely still in the city with Torchwick, and Blake’s group is currently in a hornets nest with that man.”  
“Ok then,” Orion said, “So were now waiting for them to call for help?”  
“Sort of,” Leonard said, talking through Elizabeth’s scroll, “They got fifteen minutes, if we have no answer by then, Samuel’s going to see if we can track their scrolls, we are getting them out of there if necessary.”  
“Even if we need to take on the entire White Fang,” Samantha asked, nervous by the prospect.  
“Most definitely.”

 

* * *

 

_The White Fang meeting_

As the new recruits moved forward, Sun started to panic, “What are we gonna do,” he whispered.  
“We’re working on it,” Zinnea said.  
Glancing at the stage, Sun saw Roman pointing at them, some short girl with oddly colored hair by her side.  
“He sees us,” Sun pointed out, as Torchwick started walking towards them, Sun giving him a little wave.  
Blake then spotted the electrical fuse box, “He can’t see in the dark,” she commented, before raising her weapon, firing a single shot into the box, turning the entire warehouse pitch black.  
“Z, the window,” Blake shouted.  
“Way ahead of you,” Zinnea responded, grabbing Sun and Blake before launching herself towards the window, with Torchwick shouting at the goons not to let them get away.

As soon as they were out the window, Zinnea taking the brunt of the ‘damage’, their aura protecting them from the shattered glass. They barely had time to breathe and Zinnea placed her two friends on the ground, both hitting the ground in full sprint as the wall under the window burst open, revealing the giant machine that Torchwick had revealed to the crowd. The metal monster tore after the three as Blake and Sun scrambled onto the nearby buildings, while Zinnea flew with them, all of the desperately trying to escape the mech.  
“We wouldn’t happen have to have, oh, I don’t know, some form of backup,” Sun shouted the question over the wind and the constant slamming of metal against asphalt.  
“On it,” Zinnea shouted, pulling out her scroll, calling everyone that had been part of the original part of the group.

The call actually became part of the group call the rest were having, Leonard had given up on trying to call his partners and the seven were currently in a discussion on how to rescue their Faunas teammates when Zinnea appeared in the call.  
“It’s about fucking time,” Leonard shouted, “What happened to you guys?”  
“No time,” Zinnea responded, “We could really use some bac-“  
Sun yelled something that no one could make out.  
“They got a robot,” Sun continued to shout, “It’s big, really big! That Torchwick guy is in it! But not like, it didn’t eat him, he’s controlling it or something!”  
“Where are you guys,” Samantha asked, her, Natalia, and Neptune getting back into Natalia’s convertible.  
“Help,” Sun yelled, the three turning to see the three Faunas fleeing from the giant robot that pounded down the streets, shaking the ground with every step.  
“I think that was them,” said Neptune.  
“You think,” Natalia said, who instantly turned her car around and peeled off after them.

* * *

 

The chase carried on to the local freeway, Blake and Sun hopped from car to car as Zinnea occasionally weaved her way through the bursts of laser fire coming from the machine chasing them. Torchwick had been following the three interlopers ever since they interrupted his meeting with the Fang, determined to finally get rid of them, he barreled down the freeway, occasionally knocking cars out of the way, his co-pilot, Neo, occasionally firing on the dragon Faunas, hoping to knock her out of the sky.  
Meanwhile, Natalia had finally gotten her vehicle close enough to the monstrous mech that she could do something to it.  
“We need to slow it down,” Samantha said.  
“On it,” Neptune shouted from the back seat, standing up, he went to pull out his weapon.  
Torchwick and Neo noticed them, so they changed their pace, taking cars swerving around them and throwing them at the pursuing vehicle.  
“Shit,” hissed Natalia before starting evasive maneuvers, “Hold on!”  
As she weaved through the barrage of innocent vehicles flew by, one almost removing Neptune’s head from his body.  
Once in the clear, Neptune pulls his weapon off his back, unfolding into a pulse rifle, he starts pummeling the mech with shot after shot into the behemoth’s backside, before further unfolding his weapon, turning it from a pulse rifle to a full sized trident. Leaping into the air, he embedded his weapon into the machine and held on for dear life as the pilots tried to shake him off.  
“Neptune, hold on,” Sun called out before channeling his semblance, sending two energy clones of himself at the Paladin, both shattering against the thick steel of the bot, before leaping in himself, only to be smacked away by Neptune, who had been thrown off, sending them both off the highway.

Before Blake could even react to the loss of her friend, she heard a familiar voice through Zinnea’s scroll.  
“I’m in position,” the voice was Weiss, who proceeded to jump down from an overpass, landing on the highway, freezing it over as she did, sending the large mech careening off the side of the road as it struggled to find its footing on the slippery surface.

* * *

 

The mech fell to the area below, an empty lot beneath the bustling highways, forgotten to time and the city. Landing in front of Leonard, Elizabeth, and Orion, with the rest landing around them, all ready for combat. Roman saw this as his time to take the advantage, his massive machine marched towards the eight.  
“Weiss, Z,” Blake shouted, “Give us some cover.”  
The two went to work, Weiss freezing the ground, with Zinnea super heating the thin layer of ice, creating a mist to act as a smokescreen, shrouding the eight in a thick fog.  
Torchwick growled as Neo activated the Paladin’s sensor array, red tracking lasers scanned the area for signs of movement, but the prototype was too slow, many of the fighters being lost in the fog, a brief shine had been there at the beginning, Samantha’s semblance, but since then, nothing. Torchwick finally got some shots off as Orion finally moved himself closer to the behemoth, only to be knocked by some shots finding their mark, the blast providing enough cover to let Samantha come flying from the fog, her bident, Silver Thunder, getting a single strike in before she was forced to dodge.  
“The sensors,” she shouted as Weiss and Blake rushed in, Blake going for the legs as Weiss was able to use her glyphs to make a platform just long enough to stab out the main ‘eye’ for the array, shutting the whole thing off, before jumping away. Before the bot could stomp on Blake, squishing the cat Faunas, Weiss created another glyph, launching Blake out of the way. Torchwick answered with missiles, Weiss creating several glyphs to allow the two to gracefully backflip out of harm’s way, the last flip launching Weiss into the air, where Torchwick took his shot, an energy blast hitting the poor girl square in the body, before she was sent flying, she created a time dilation glyph under Blake, taking the Faunas’ already insane speed to new levels, allowing her to slice through Roman’s missile barrage with ease, a beautiful spray of explosions formed a distraction for just long enough to allow Samantha to go for the legs of the behemoth, Blake joining her, the two slashing and stabbing the mech’s lower body in an attempt to throw it off balance, before leaping into the sky, their combined strike taking the left arm off the monstrous creation. Before Torchwick could react, a couple of fire grenades stuck to the machine’s back, Samuel’s new creation setting off a brilliant flare before Orion jumped on to the back of the machine, hacking away at the super-heated metal with his weapon. Torchwick’s response was having the machine slam through two pillars and into a pillar, before turning around and delivering a powerful blow to the dislodged nuisance, shattering the third concrete pillar he slammed Orion into.  
“Orion,” Samantha called out.  
“He’s fine,” Leonard said, “all this emotion, he might as well be a god.”  
Orion stood up to the machine, inside the mech Roman smirked, thinking he had won, only to have the one remaining hand caught by the boy he had thought he was about to break.  
“You would really learn to channel that,” Orion taunted, as he his free hand brought up his shotgun, a single slug blast shattering the mech’s other arm.  
“Take it out,” he shouted, causing Zinnea to rush in, only to be knocked away by Orion, who had been kicked by the mech, its legs still operational.  
As the two flew past, Blake threw Gambol Shroud towards Zinnea, the blade collapsed into pistol form, tied to Blake with her ribbon. Grabbing on, Blake turned Zinnea into wrecking ball, if one hit connected, the mech would shatter. Unfortunately, the mech kept dodging the blows.  
“We need to slow it down,” shouted Orion, still sort of reeling from the kick he took.  
“And how do you propose we do that,” Weiss asked.  
“Well, Ice Queen,” Leonard said, “If you can’t beat them, freeze them.”  
With that Leonard tossed two more of Samuel’s grenades, both exploding into giant spikes of ice as they landed on the giant machine. On Weiss’s other side, Elizabeth set herself in a position to pummel the mech with shots, Weiss immediately understood what to do, creating several ice glyphs in front of the weapon’s muzzle, causing each shot to become a massive ice cannon, several shots hitting the mech until one caught its foot, pinning it in place, letting Zinnea finally hit the thing with the force of several large explosives, shattering what was left of the giant mech in a single blow, sending its two pilots skittering across the pavement.  
“I just got this cleaned,” Roman complained as Neo blocked the blast of fire sent from Zinnea.  
Looking at the situation, Roman decided that now was the time to retreat.  
“Ladies, gentleman, Ice Queen,” he said, earning an annoyed response from Weiss, “Always a pleasure. Neo, if you would.”  
The short girl in front of Roman took a bow before Orion shot forward, wanting to destroy these two and get this night over with. To everyone’s surprise, the two shattered like glass on contact, an illusion most likely created by the short girl he was with.  
“Well,” Zinnea said as the rest ran up to Orion, only to watch Torchwick escape on a Bullhead, “Looks like he’s got a new henchman.”  
“Yea,” Weiss said, before following it up with something no one expected her to do, “I guess she really made our plans…fall apart.”  
Orion smirked as the rest of her just looked at her.  
“No,” Zinnea said, “Just no.”  
“But, you always do it,” Weiss complained.  
“There’s a time and a place for those kind of jokes,” Zinnea said.  
“Was this not it,” Weiss asked, annoyed.  
“It was,” Zinnea said, “It just wasn’t very good.”  
As Weiss stomped off after the dragon, Samantha and Natalia went back up to make sure Natalia’s car didn’t get towed away, as it had been left on the highway above, leaving Leonard to ask a very important question, “So…what happened to Sun and Neptune?”

 

* * *

 

_Several blocks down_

Sun and Neptune sat outside the ‘Simple Wok’ noodle stand, joined by the rest of their team, the four were in the middle of some really good noodles, when Neptune realized something.  
“Shouldn’t we go help them,” he asked.  
“I’m sure they’re fine,” Sun said, before scarfing down another mouthful of noodles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that was super fucking long, but it was necessary, and there were somethings in there that will be important in the future, but for now, they'll just have to sit and wait for later. Also, found out Junior's actual name translates into 'Black Bear,' man, the subtle references are the best ones. Naturally I had to add to that, with Junior's father now being Da Xiong.
> 
> Also, the opening to this chapter, yes, I'm doing that, this shit goes deep.  
> Hopefully I can get done with this soon, personally I want to be done with Volumes 1-4 by the end of the year so I can do other things and not feel rushed to get Volume 5 done before 6 drops, but we'll see, for now we're going to keep going. 
> 
> And one last thing, before anyone asks, I'll do the 'Penny' thing before this Volume is over, Project Crusader isn't as big as you might think it is.
> 
> Extra thing, play the reference game, who spotted the serial killer as the lieutenant of the White Fang.


	6. Chapter 5: Fun For All Ages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Training for the Vytal Festival and the first true mission for the first-year's is in full swing, with a dance and a sinister force on the horizon, BLZE tries to get their leader to listen before she burns herself out.

Pyrrha found herself alone in the locker room, preparing for her match, it was the first time someone had attempted this in their first year, but she was ready. She was called the invincible girl for a reason, and while she tried to be humble about it, the truth was that there were few in the world who could stand against her. Her fight today was not against any of them, as she strolled into the arena, the entirety of Team CRDL her opponents. Sliding her weapon off her back, her powers taking the shield and short sword, magnetizing them to her hands in an instant, rushing Cardin Winchester as she did, her short sword extending into a full length spear, her first blow parried before the next two connected, sending the boy to his knees as she leapt into the air, Cardin barely rolling away from the drop strike Pyrrha attempted to perform, only to leap back into action, her thrown spear blocked by Dove, only for a low kick to knock him over. Sky was next, Pyrrha’s spear clanged against his halberd before sweeping strike sent him flying past Cardin, who Pyrrha rushed again, spear collapsed back into the sword, her blow hitting the boy’s armor before blocking a blow with her shield and dodging the next blow, a downward strike that shattered the area floor, an explosion of fire Dust from Cardin’s mace. She was forced to block the next blow, which sent her skidding across the arena, only to be rushed by Sky, leaping into the air to dodge his swing, she blocked Cardin’s follow-up swing, before dropping to the ground, dancing her way out of harm’s way while knocking Sky to the ground in the process. Using Cardin as a platform, she rolled over the boy, using her shield as a projectile, bouncing off of Cardin and into Sky, sending the boy to the ground as Pyrrha landed on top of him, taking him out of the fight in the process. Dove, Russel, and Cardin proceeded to rush the redhead, she countered by shield-slamming Dove, getting several hits on Russel before kicking him away, and dodging another floor shattering strike from Cardin. Taking a more defensive approach, Pyrrha’s weapon shifted into rifle form, firing several shots at the three boys, only to have them deflected by Russel, who rushed at Pyrrha with a somersault dropkick, before both him and Dove let loose a flurry or strikes, every single hit blocked or parried, before Cardin rushed back in, only to have his swing rolled under, Pyrrha firing several shots at him, which he easily deflected with his mace, rushing back in, only to be kneed in the face by Pyrrha, who proceeded to pummel and slash away at the boy, Cardin deflected most of the blows, but steel blade clanged against armor as several blows found their mark. Reeling away from Pyrrha, Cardin was replaced by Russel, the boy’s twin blades were no match for Pyrrha, as she easily disarmed him of one in close quarters, before returning her weapon to spear form, using its range to send the boy sprawling to the ground. Dove was next, the gun hidden in his sword’s blade, Pyrrha easily blocked the shots before getting close to Dove, her strike dodged by Dove with an off-balance spin, who, still dizzy, is knocked aside by Cardin, who proceeded to slam the ground, a massive fissure of fire explodes towards Pyrrha, who gracefully dodges over it, before rushing back in, landing several strikes before sending Cardin into the air, not done she leaps up after him, striking several more blows, knocking him away again. Using her shield as a springboard, she launched herself at Cardin, spear extending to full length, she wrapped it around his neck, slamming him into the ground before performing a graceful back-kick, sending the boy into the air before he landed again.   
“And that’s the match,” announced Professor Goodwitch, the arena lighting back up, revealing the crowd that had watched her performance.   
“Lucky shot,” groaned Cardin, collapsing as the professor walked by.   
“Well done Ms. Nikos,” Goodwitch said, and she meant it, Pyrrha was one of their star students, Leonard the other, being a single person battle monster, “You should have no problem qualifying for the tournament.”  
“Thank you professor,” Pyrrha responded.

“Alright,” Professor Goodwitch said, turning to the students seated in the stands, “I know that’s a tough act to follow, but we have time for one more sparring match, any volunteers?”  
She scanned the stands, her eyes falling on one Blake Belladonna, about two months ago she had slowly become less and less involved in class, almost like she had something on her mind, maybe it had something to do with the giant mech that had torn through town the Friday before she started acting strange.   
“Miss Belladonna,” Goodwitch called out, the young woman snapping to attention, almost like she had been caught, “You’ve been rather docile for the past few classes. Why don’t you-“  
“I’ll do it,” came a voice, as a hand went up in the stands.   
The voice belonged to Mercury Black, one of the temporary transfer students from Haven Academy, he and his team had been surprisingly quiet during their stay, the only exception was one of the time someone insulted Romia; the little girl had left that Vacuan who had insulted her height with several broken bones and a black eye.   
“Mercury is it,” Goodwitch said, adjusting her glasses “Very well. Let’s find you an opponent.”  
Mercury already had an opponent in mind, he wanted to fight Zinnea or Leonard for the sheer thrill, but Cinder had asked to him to fight a certain person, “Actually,” he said, acting like he was thinking about it, “I want to fight her,” he pointed at Pyrrha.   
“Me,” Pyrrha asked in surprise.   
“I’m afraid Ms. Nikos has just finished a match,” Goodwitch said sternly, “I recommend you choose another partner.”  
“No, its fine, professor,” Pyrrha said before turning to Mercury, “I’d be happy to oblige.”

After Mercury took a few minutes to get prepared, he strolled into the arena, Pyrrha had been waiting for him, her shield and sword at the ready.   
In the stands, Leonard watched in anticipation, Mercury was one of the few transfer students that he hadn’t seen fight yet, so this could be interesting. Behind him Emerald looked at the two intently as they got into position. She was supposed to be Mercury’s second set of eyes here, looking for something the boy might miss.   
Mercury decided to make the first move, rushing into a simple kick that Pyrrha easily blocked, her slash at his other leg sent him to the ground, a position he easily recovered with a move that seemed almost like break dancing. Pyrrha rushed in next, the two trading slashes for kicks, each strike was parried, blocked, or dodged, until Pyrrha got in a shield slam, knocking Mercury back, his metal boots sending up sparks as he slid back.   
“He’s doing pretty well,” Leonard pointed out, shooting a smile at Emerald, who awkwardly smiled back, hating her job of trying to be friends with these people.   
Mercury went back in with a spinning axe kick, his flurry of kicks putting Pyrrha on the defensive as she rolled away from, before putting herself into a turtle-esque stance, blocking the barrage of kicks Mercury rushed her with, his strikes being parried or blocked until Pyrrha made a surprising move, tossing her sword into the air, she used her forearm to block a kick, activating her semblance as she did. Mercury made note of this as his next several kicks knocked away her weapon, burying the gladius into the floor. He smirked, sending a kick at Pyrrha’s head, going for the win, against any other fighter, this may have worked, but not Pyrrha Nikos, her semblance already activated, she simply moved Mercury’s metal boot away from her, it wasn’t obvious, to those who knew very little about Pyrrha Nikos’s semblance, it looked like she had simple dodged to kick, or maybe deflected it, to Mercury it was a different story, he felt the kick be redirected, his legs being moved against his will. He barely had time to think about before Pyrrha rushed him, a shield slam he barely avoided by using the shield as a spring board, launching himself away from her, as she continued to rush him, the look or fury in her eyes.   
“I forfeit,” Mercury said, causing Pyrrha to forcefully slow herself down before she slammed into the boy, stumbling past him instead.   
“You, don’t even want to try,” Pyrrha asked in confusion.   
“What’s the point,” Mercury said, shrugging, “You’re a world renowned fighter. I thought I could take you, but after that, it’s safe to say we are leagues apart.”  
Pyrrha didn’t looked very convinced as Glynda gave out the results.   
“In that case, Pyrrha Nikos is the victor of the match, again,” Goodwitch said, before turning to Mercury, “Next time, you may want to think a little harder before choosing your opponent.”  
“I’ll be sure to do that,” responded Mercury, almost shrugging off the suggestion.

With that the bell rang, the combat training class over for today, the noise snapping Blake back to reality.   
“That’s all for today,” Professor Goodwitch said, “And remember the homecoming dance is this weekend, but you all have your first mission on Monday. I will not accept any excuses.”  
As she talked, Team BLZE got up to left, Leonard and Zinnea discussing the two fights, Leonard pointed out the second fight didn’t feel like a fight, something felt off, Zinnea told him that he was worrying too much, saying that Mercury was just trying not get hurt. Blake followed her team quietly, her nose buried deep in her notebook, it had been for most of the past two months.   
As they left the room, they were followed by Mercury, who had Emerald waiting for him.   
“Learning is so much fun,” he said, ready to talk about the exciting info he had learned that fight.

As Team BLZE left the building, they decided to head back for their dorm, off to the side, Team SSSN was nearby, their leader, the ever ridiculous Sun Wukong, spotted Blake. The four boys had been talking about the dance this weekend, giving Sun an idea.   
“Blake,” he called out as he ran up to her, noticing how she looked, he started with something simple, “You doing okay?”  
“I’m fine,” snapped Blake, the bags under eyes an obvious sign that she was not, but Sun didn’t push.   
Clearing his throat, he asked her about something he was hoping she would say yes too, “So I hear there’s this dance going on this weekend. It sounds pretty lame, but I was thinking, you and me not as lame.”   
He wanted to smack himself for screwing that up, “What,” Blake asked, confused on what he had said.   
“The dance this weekend,” he stated, “You wanna go or what?”  
“I don’t have time for a stupid dance,” Blake said, annoyed by the suggestion, “I thought you of all people would get that.”  
She stalked past her team, who had stopped hearing Sun call out for their leader.

 

* * *

 

Back in their dorm, the rest of Team BLZE asked a simple request of their leader, Leonard knew this was going to be an uphill battle the second Elizabeth asked the question, and Blake’s reaction only proved his point.   
“You what,” Blake nearly shouted, surprised by the request.   
“We want you to go to the dance,” repeated Elizabeth.   
“That’s ridiculous,” retorted Blake.   
“Blake we’re worried about you,” Zinnea said softly, “This investigation is starting to mess with your head.”  
Leonard listed off everything that had occurred over the last two months, “You can’t sleep, you hardly eat, and you’re grades are suffering.”  
“You think I care about grades,” Blake shouted, “People’s lives are at stake.”  
“We know,” said Zinnea putting her hand on Blake’s, “And we’re all still trying to figure out what Torchwick is up to.”  
“With what you guys found out at the Fang meeting, we know they’re operating somewhere out of southeast Vale,” Elizabeth pointed out.   
“And the information Weiss got singled out Vale as the primary target for Dust robberies for the last several months,” Leonard continued.   
“Not to mention the stolen military tech,” Zinnea added, her hand had hurt for a week after punching the tin can Roman had stolen and used against them and Team SNOW into smithereens.   
“But there’s still unanswered questions,” Blake said.   
“Blake,” Elizabeth sighed, she couldn’t believe how stubborn her leader could be sometimes, “you won’t be able to find anything if you can’t keep your eyes open.”  
“All we’re asking is that you take it easy for one day,” Zinnea said.   
“It’ll be fun,” Leonard said, “Coco said she’ll make sure.”  
“Excuse me,” Blake asked, not realizing they had given the reins of party planning over to the first year team.   
“Team CRSN’s away mission is lasting longer than expected,” Leonard continued, hoping that his friend would be okay, “Coco said Oz asked them to pick up where they left off, considering that was nearly two months ago, Coco’s basically redone the entire thing.”  
“It’ll be a great time,” added Zinnea.   
“And once it’s all over, we can return to our search, ready and well rested,” Elizabeth said, trying to convince Blake this would be good for her, “So, what do you think?”  
Blake sighed, she knew her team was just looking out for her, but they didn’t understand, “I think this is a colossal waste of time,” she said, standing up to leave, “I’ll be in the library.”  
After she left, Zinnea just sighed, “Great,” she said, feeling useless, she wanted to help Blake, but the girl was stubborn, unwilling to just slow down.   
“She can’t keep going like this,” Leonard said, followed by a knock at the door.   
Curious, Elizabeth answered it to a singing Jaune, “Weiss Schnee,” he sung, horribly off-key.   
“Next dorm down, lover boy,” Elizabeth said.   
As he left Zinnea asked the obvious, “He’s going to get shot down, isn’t he?”  
“Most definitely,” responded the other two.

 

* * *

 

In the Team SNOW dorm, they were having a similar discussion.   
“I still don’t understand how she is managing to keep this up,” Weiss said, surprised that Blake had gone two months with next to no food or sleep.   
“She’s stubborn,” Natalia said, “But no one can last that long, she’s going to either realize she has to slow down or something is going to happen.”  
“Leonard will handle it,” Orion said, “He’s always been good at looking out for others, despite his condition.”  
“You are going to tell us about someday,” Samantha said sternly.   
“Not my place to tell,” Orion countered, “I only know because he told me, he’ll tell when he’s ready.”  
“I just wish he would say some-,” Samantha was interrupted by a knock on the door, Weiss who was the one closest opened it up, and immediately regretted it.   
“Weeeiiisssss,” Jaune Arc sang as he strummed his guitar, no one had any idea where he had gotten it since Orion’s was in their room. He ended his strumming with a wink, causing Weiss to slam the door in his face.   
“Oh come on,” Jaune whined as he knocked on the door, “Open the door. Please.”  
Weiss groaned, not wanting to deal with this.   
“I promise not to sing,” Jaune said through the door, Weiss sighed, knowing he would, but opened the door anyways.   
“I liiieed,” Jaune sang, incredibly off-key, it was apparent to both the actual singers in the room, “Weiss Schnee, will you accompany me, to the dance on…Sunday?”  
“Are you done,” asked Weiss, thoroughly unimpressed by the performance.   
Jaune thought about it for a moment before responding, “Yes?”  
“No,” Weiss said, answering his question before slamming the door in his face again.   
“What,” Weiss asked, the look her teammates giving her one of smugness and question.   
“That right there is why we started calling you the ice queen,” Orion smirked, Natalia and Samantha just nodding in agreement.   
“All my life boys have only cared about the perks of my last name,” Weiss explained, before adding her other reason with a smirk, “Besides, I already have a date in mind.”  
“Weiss,” Orion said with a smirk of his own, “I appreciate the offer, but I’m going to be trying to enjoy myself this Sunday.”  
“Quiet you,” Weiss snapped, causing the other three to laugh.

 

* * *

 

_Later that evening_

Blades clanged in the night, steel rang out against steel as Jaune and Pyrrha continued their duel, the two had been practicing almost every night ever since Jaune’s incident with Cardin had been finally resolved. Pyrrha enjoyed this part of her day, she enjoyed the time she spent with her partner, one who currently smiling down on her, thinking he had the advantage. She smirked in return before dropping herself into a low sweep, knocking Jaune to the floor. She couldn’t help but laugh, she was just enjoying herself so much.   
Putting her sword on her back, she helped Jaune back to his feet, “Well done,” she said cheerily, “Your swordplay has improved immensely.”  
“Couldn’t have done it without you,” Jaune responded, brushing himself off.   
“So,” Pyrrha started, still nervous about the question she was about to ask, “Are you ready to move on to aura,” this part of training got a little intimate, which is why Pyrrha got nervous.   
“I’m actually thinking maybe we could skip aura training tonight,” Jaune said sheepishly, “Maybe go on a jog or something.”  
“Come on,” Pyrrha said softly, trying to keep her partner’s spirits up, “I know you get frustrated, but you must keep trying. I’m sure we’ll discover your semblance any day now.”  
“That’s not it,” Jaune sighed, “It’s just; it’s dumb.”  
“What is it,” Pyrrha asked, curious on what could be bothering him, putting her hand on his shoulder she tried to be comforting, “Jaune, you know you can tell me.”  
Jaune took a deep breath, “It’s Weiss,” he said.   
“Oh,” was Pyrrha’s first response, not expecting that as the problem, “What about her?”  
“I asked her to the dance and she shot me down. Big surprise right,” he chuckled a little, but it sounded hollow with how he was feeling.   
“Well, I believe the saying goes, ‘there’s plenty of fish in the sea,’” Pyrrha said, trying to cheer Jaune up.   
“That’s easy for you to say,” Jaune countered, “You probably got guys clamoring over each other just to ask you out.”  
Pyrrha just chuckled at the idea, the reality of it was a lot sadder, “You’d be surprised.”  
“Oh please,” Jaune scoffed as he left the rooftop they always practiced on, “If you don’t get a date to the dance, I’ll wear a dress.”  
Pyrrha wish she could just tell him the truth, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it, just because she knew he didn’t feel the same, he most likely never would, but if he was happy, she would be happy, and right now, that was not true for either of them.

 

* * *

 

_Team CRME’s dorm_

“And finally, Pyrrha Nikos,” Emerald said, she had been discussing potential ‘threats’ with Cinder and Mercury, Neo was out helping Roman with the operation. The list currently consisted of Zinnea Draconov, Leonard Thorn, and Team CYPR. The rest were either not considered a threat or still being evaluated.   
“Ahh, the invincible girl,” Cinder said, her tone said boredom, but anyone who actually spent time with her knew she was very interested.   
“She’s smart,” Mercury said, not looking up from his comic book, “But I wouldn’t say invincible.”  
“Do tell,” Cinder said.   
“Her semblance is polarity,” Emerald explained, “But you wouldn’t know it just by watching.”  
Mercury sat up, adding his experience to the explanation, “After she made contact with my boots, she was able to move them around however she wanted, but she only made slight adjustments.”   
“Just enough to make it look like she’s untouchable,” Emerald added, “She doesn’t broadcast her powers, so it puts her opponents at a disadvantage.”   
Cinder hummed, “People assume she’s fated for victory, when she’s really taken fate into her own hands,” she said, “Interesting, add her to the list.”  
As Emerald did that, Mercury said something he felt pretty confident about, “You should be able to take her no problem.”  
“It’s not overpowering the enemy,” Cinder said, a devilish look in her eyes, “It’s about taking away what power they have, and we will, in time.”  
“I hate waiting,” groaned Mercury.   
“Don’t worry Mercury,” Cinder said, holding up a tiny needle, “We have a fun weekend ahead of us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that was a nice chapter, good fight scene writing practice, I think I'm getting better at this, not sure, but I'm trying.  
> As for why I'm not calling Cinder's group without Roman something different...let me just say that Team CMEN does not sound appropriate enough, so instead I gave Neo a fake first name to use while she's undercover.  
> Romia Politan = Neo Politan
> 
> Also, poor Pyrrha, Jaune, why were you so blind during Volumes 2 and 3?!  
> And we'll talk about Team CRSN(Crimson) later...they kind of ended up being my replacement for Team CFVY since I aged them all back a year.
> 
> Side characters:  
> Team CRSN  
> Team CYPR  
> Random Vacuan student(Is 'Vacuan' right when talking about someone from Vacuo...I have no idea)


	7. Chapter 6: Burned Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team BLZE's leader is on the verge of self-destruction unless her team can do something to slow her down. Meanwhile, love is in the air and the dance gets under way.

Leonard, Elizabeth, and Zinnea sat in the middle of what would be the ballroom for the homecoming dance this weekend, the three were thinking of ways to get Blake out of her current state, when Coco Adel slapped two sheets of fabric in front of them.  
“Which one do you guys think would be better for a tablecloth,” she asked, sliding the fabrics forward.  
Leonard just stared at them for a couple seconds, “Aren’t they both the same,” he asked, earning a glare from Elizabeth and Coco, the former selecting the one on the right.  
“When Coco said she needed help, I was expecting more heavy lifting,” Zinnea said as the fashion heiress left.  
The three returned to thinking when Yatsuhashi dropped a giant speaker next to them, before walking up to the trio.  
“Are you not excited,” he asked, for a quiet juggernaut, the man was probably more caring than most people realized, “We have an excellent night planned out for everyone.”  
“Blake’s not going,” Elizabeth grumbled, “Can’t exactly feel excited when you can’t even get your team leader to go.”  
“We can try and make her go,” Zinnea said, “But we don’t exactly have anything good to convince her with.”  
Leonard sighed, “We have one way, but I don’t exactly talk about that again.”  
Zinnea just looked at Leonard, wondering what he had in mind.  
“Anyways,” he continued, “we still don’t have a good way to get her sit down to listen to us. She’s focused in the library, just ‘studying’.”  
At that moment, the doors opened, in walked the two idiots of Team SSSN, their teammates out somewhere.  
“Hey guys,” Neptune said as they walked in.  
Fox ignored them as Yatsu went back to work, Coco and Velvet replacing them as they walked over.  
“Looking good,” Coco said, being less than subtle with how she was looking at Neptune and Sun, nudging Velvet, who was trying really hard not to stare at Sun’s abs.  
“So, you guys excited to get all dressed up for this weekend,” Sun asked, trying to be excited, but Leonard knew he was feeling the same thing they were.  
“I guess,” Leonard sighed, “Going to have to wash my nylon gloves though...my gauntlets aren’t exactly the best fashion accessory.”  
“Joke all you want,” Coco said smugly, “But I’m going to be turning heads. And what are you two going to be wearing?”  
Sun gestured to his current outfit, “Uh, this.”  
“Ignore him,” Neptune immediately said, “For he knows not what he says.”  
“I may have moved to Mistral,” Sun retorted, “But I grew up in Vacuo. It’s not exactly a shirt and tie kind of place.”  
Zinnea groaned, “Sun, you’re going to wear a tie to this or I’m tying you up with your tail.”  
“Oh…ok,” Sun said, not wanting invoke Zinnea’s anger for a second time, remember the talk he had gotten last time, not something he wanted to go through again, and he wasn’t even going to try take that threat as a bluff, she had done it before.  
Desperately trying to change the subject, he moved on to Blake, “So, how does Blake feel about all of this? Is she still being, y’know, Blake-y?”  
“It’s been two days, since we last tried,” Leonard said, “We got an idea, but I really don’t want to go through with this.”  
Zinnea stood up to leave, talking about her plan to at least get Blake to listen, “I’ll worry about getting Blake, you two just make sure you’re in our dorm when I get her back.”

 

* * *

 

_Beacon library_

Blake Belladonna was seated at one of the computers, staring at her screen, she could barely keep her eyes open, but she needed to do this, no one else could. All of the sudden there was a red dot on her screen, Blake stared intently at the dot as it moved, after several seconds she started glaring at it, realizing someone was using a laser pointer on her, since there were so little people that knew she was a cat Faunas, looking around, she didn’t see anyone who could be messing with her, so she returned to her work, or at least tried to.  
Not even five seconds later, the red dot reappeared, this time on her hand. Blake look around again, but saw no one. Then the dot appeared a third time, this time in the center of her screen. Determined to end this foolishness, Blake stood up, stomping as she followed the dot, her eyes not leaving the dot as it rounded a corner. As she rounded the same corner, she walked right into the busty form of her partner, who was currently holding a laser pointer.  
“Hello,” she said in a sing-song voice, further surprising Blake, “We need to talk.”  
And in an instant, Zinnea was dragging Blake out of the library and back to their dorm.

 

* * *

 

_Team BLZE dorm_

Zinnea opened the door to their room and dragged Blake in, it had taken about ten minutes, Blake pleading with Zinnea to just let her go. Zinnea had ignored it, she hated Blake be upset, but this needed to be done. In the room were Leonard and Elizabeth, sat on the bed, a somber face on Leonard, trying to prepare himself for whatever he was about say, something he said he didn’t want to talk about again.  
Once Blake was dragged inside the dorm and the door was closed behind them, Zinnea sat down.  
Blake was furiously staring them down, “If you guys are going to tell me to stop, you may as well save your breath.”  
“We don’t want you to stop,” Zinnea said, “We just want you do slow down.”  
“We don’t have the luxury to slow down,” Blake retorted.  
“It’s not a luxury,” Zinnea said, surprisingly calm for the normally boisterous girl, “It’s a necessity.”  
“The necessity is stopping Torchwick,” Blake argued, still annoyed with her partner.  
“And we’re going to,” Zinnea said, patting the spot next to her, as she had taken a seat on Blake’s bed, “But first, you have to sit down and listen to what we have to say, and by ‘we’ I mean Leonard.”  
Blake looked at the three hesitantly, Leonard’s last story had been a little dark, but Blake digressed, “Fine,” she said, sitting next to Zinnea.

Leonard took a deep breath, he didn’t want to tell this story, but he had to.  
“I know I don’t talk about my heritage much,” he started, “But I’m not the first generation of my family to attend Beacon. My parents were part of Team GEAR, you’ve probably never heard of them, but if you did any research into Beacon before coming here, you probably heard the stories about their friends. Team STRQ, the pride of Beacon Academy, Summer Rose, Taiyang Xiao Long, and the twins, Raven and Qrow Branwen. They were unstoppable, and were the best friends my parents said they ever had, growing up with them was like having a second family. I never got the full story on what exactly happened until after everything had gone down.”  
Leonard found himself struggling to fight back tears, he hated talking about his past, it was too much hardship, all packed into a single hell-scape of a year, but he continued.  
“After they graduated, Taiyang and Raven Branwen got married, they ended up having a kid about the same time my parents had me. Her name was Yang Xiao Long, a little ball of joy and personality, you guys probably would’ve liked her. Unfortunately, happiness never lasts, shortly after Yang was born, Raven left, no one knows why, and at this point, the only people who truly still care are too angry with her to try and find her. Tai was devastated, so Summer took the place of Raven, she was basically super mom, a skilled huntress, an excellent baker, and an amazing person. She and Tai ended up having a kid together when Yang and I were about two, almost three, her name was Ruby Rose, a child who could’ve gone on to do so much good, but alas, life had other plans. When we were about five, we learned about Yang’s mom from a drunk Qrow, and Yang had only one question on her mind after that, ‘why?’, why would someone leave like that, what could be more important than raising your child. We may never know, and Yang never got her answer. She and Ruby were the two who got attacked and killed by Grimm, Yang found a picture of the four of Qrow and Raven outside an old house that was actually on Patch, the island they grew up on, the place where I spent a good portion of my childhood, she was determined to get to this house, to find Raven and ask her why she left. So one day, while Tai was in town getting something and Summer was on mission, Yang loaded Ruby into the back of a wagon and went after Raven, and that search led them to their grave, with Summer committing suicide ten months later. Her stubbornness got them both killed that night, and shattered a family, a happy, normal family.”  
“Leonard,” Blake started, “I’m sorry that happened and I understand what you’re trying to tell me, but this is different! I’m not child and this isn’t just a search for answers, I can’t just-“  
“Blake,” Leonard said, cutting his leader off, “We’re not telling you to stop. I know Yang wouldn’t have, she would still want to know why Raven left her, but she can’t because that search consumed her.”  
Leonard sighed before continuing, “We are going to get the answers Blake, and maybe that will lead to more questions, but if we destroy ourselves in the process, what good are we?”  
“You don’t understand,” shouted Blake, rising to her feet, “I’m the only one who can do this!”  
Leonard instantly shot to his feet, golden eyes ablaze with anger, an anger Blake had only seen once before, “No, you don’t understand,” he shouted, “If Roman Torchwick walked through that door, what would you do?!”  
“I’d fight him,” Blake shouted.  
“You’d lose,” Leonard stated, his words nothing but fact.  
“I can stop him,” Blake retorted.  
“You can barely fucking stand,” Leonard shouted.  
Blake looked at him furious, but knew he was right.  
When no retort came, Leonard continued, “I know you want to fight, to stop them, but I don’t want to lose anyone else like this,” his tears flowed freely, “I don’t want any more ghosts, I have too many as is.”  
Blake was too stunned to even ask what he meant by that, too stunned to even resist Zinnea pulling her down into a hug, the dragon Faunas whispering in her ear.  
“We’re not asking you to stop, I’m not asking you to stop. Just please, get some rest, not just for you, but for the people who care about you, and the people you care about.”  
Blake was still stunned, not by Leonard anymore, who Elizabeth had already led out of the room, the two saying they were going for a walk, but by Zinnea, she had harbored some feelings for the girl, but now, she was wondering if Zinnea felt the same. In a different time, she might have acted upon these feelings, but for now, she had more important things to do. Still, she was saddened when Zinnea broke the hug to leave.  
Getting up to leave, Zinnea decided to do one last little thing for Blake, she noticed the other girl’s disappointment when she broke the hug, so she felt like a little teasing was in order.  
“So I promised Yatsu I would help him move some stuff around,” Zinnea said as she walked towards the door, “But if you feel like showing up on Sunday, I’ll save you a dance,” Zinnea finished her sentence with a wink, and then shut the door behind her.  
In the dorm, Blake collapsed on her bed, not knowing how to deal with everything she was feeling, she knew one thing though, she was definitely going to take Zinnea up on her offer.

 

* * *

 

_Team JNPR dorm_

It the days before the dance, and Jaune was desperate, he had been thinking of a way to try and impress Weiss enough that she would go with him to the dance, but everything he had thought of costed money, a lot more than what he had. So in an attempt to get advice, he had grabbed Ren, who had just gotten out of the shower.  
“We need to talk,” Jaune said, pulling Jaune over to his bed.  
“Ren,” he started, “I’m just gonna come out and say it. You are one of my best friends. These past few months, I think we’ve really bonded. Even though you don’t say much, I mean, you’re really quiet. To be perfectly honest, I don’t know much about you personally, but darn it, I consider you to be the brother I never had!”  
During Jaune’s speech, Ren sat there awkwardly, while he was glad the blond boy was confessing feelings of love for him, the fact that his clothes were so close, it felt kind of rude to try and change while Jaune was pouring his heart out, but he felt kind of weird considering the fact he was in only a towel.  
When Jaune said he considered him a brother, Ren’s only response was, “And I you.”  
Jaune continued, “Which is why I wanted your advice on…girls.”  
“Girls,” asked Ren, confused on what had caused this assumption.  
“I just don’t know how to talk to girls,” Jaune said as Ren reached for his clothes, “I guess what I’m asking is, well, how did you and Nora end up, you know?”  
Ren just looked at Jaune, realizing what had sparked this conversation.  
Nora, who was also in the room, doing some homework she had forgotten to do, let out an embarrassed laugh.  
“We’re not actually, together, together,” Nora said.  
“Nora,” Jaune said, annoyed she was listening in when he had asked her not to, “I asked for headphones on.”  
Nora quickly put them back on, before letting them back down when Jaune wasn’t looking.  
“Jaune,” Ren asked, slightly concerned, “what is this all about?”  
Jaune sighed, “It’s Weiss, I’m completely head over heels for her, and she won’t even give me a chance. She’s cold, but she’s also incredible. She’s smart, graceful, and talented, I mean, have you heard her sing?! I just wish she would take me seriously, I wish I could tell her how I feel. Without messing it all up.”  
“Then do it,” Jaune looked up in surprise as Pyrrha was standing in the doorway, having listened to Jaune’s speech about how he felt about Weiss Schnee, “Tell her exactly what you’ve just said. No ridiculous schemes, no pick-up lines, just be honest.”  
Jaune started to argue, but Pyrrha cut him off.  
“Jaune,” she said, “You can’t get it wrong if it’s the truth.”  
Jaune smiled at Pyrrha, who smiled back.  
“Thanks Pyrrha,” Jaune said, getting up to go find Weiss, “Good talk Ren.”  
As Jaune left the room, Pyrrha’s smile faded into a wistful look, she was good with giving advice, not so much for listening to her own.  
“Practice what you preach, Pyrrha,” Nora said with a sad sigh.

Later that evening, Jaune went looking for Weiss Schnee, he had first stopped at the Team SNOW dorm. Orion said she had gone to the ballroom to ask Coco something a few hours earlier, and recommended going to see if she was still there. While he was looking for her, he had grabbed a single white rose, something he felt represented Weiss in every way, beautiful, delicate, but had a bite if you weren’t careful.  
Rounding a corner, he saw Weiss, he was about to go talk to her when she yelled out.  
“Neptune,” Weiss cried out, running over to the blue hair boy, the action causing Jaune to hide around the corner he was about to walk out from.  
“Oh hey,” Neptune said, a little surprised to see the heiress, “What’s up?”  
“I know this is a little unorthodox,” Weiss started to say, still a little nervous, “But I wanted to ask you something. Would you like to accompany me to the dance tomorrow?”  
Jaune didn’t stick around to hear Neptune’s answer. Dropping the rose, he understood Weiss’s answer to what his question to be, she had someone else in mind, and Jaune wasn’t upset about that, if she was happy, he was going to be happy.

 

* * *

 

_Beacon’s Homecoming Dance_

The rose Jaune had dropped found its way into one of the many vases around the dance, Weiss had asked Coco to put it on that morning, saying she had found it last night like this and was wondering if she would make room for it. The fashion heiress had just smiled and agreed to do it, seeing how the shorter girl was feeling, she decided to do something to make her happy.  
While Coco wandered the party floor, Velvet was greeting the guests, she enjoyed the dance, it got her mind off thinking about dancing with Coco, something she certainly wanted to do, but it might lead to other things, something Velvet wasn’t ready for yet.  
As the door opened, Velvet perked up, seeing Leonard and Elizabeth walk through the door, Leonard’s tuxedo was simple, his skull tie and white gloves a reminder to those who truly knew him, how dangerous he was. His date wore a long sky blue dress, a color similar to her signature jacket, her long red hair flowed her back in a loose ponytail, the back of the dress was mostly open, showing off the curve of her spine underneath her hair, the sleeveless sides revealing the toned arms of a sniper, someone who constantly wielded a weapon nearly twice her weight. It made Velvet feel slightly jealous, her own dress not nearly as revealing, for good reason, she didn’t want Coco, or anyone else to have an excuse play with her bunny tail.  
“You both look amazing,” Velvet exclaimed, appreciating how they looked.  
“You don’t loo half bad either,” Elizabeth said, hugging Velvet, “You’re not on the dance floor, I thought you’d be trying to get Coco in your arms, or be swinging away with Yatsu.”  
Velvet blushed a little at Elizabeth’s teasing, “I’m trying to helpful now, considering Coco did most of the planning for this.”

Elsewhere, Sun was complaining about the outfit Neptune had gotten him for the dance, he had basically been forced into it by Sage and Scarlet.  
“Stupid, dumb neck trap,” Sun grumbled, tugging at is tie, the collar on his black, button-up, t-shirt was popped and it still had half the front open.  
“I knew you’d look better in a tie,” The voice of Blake caused Sun to turn around and see his date, a violet dress that covered her shoulders and went down to her knees, ears still covered by her bow, but she couldn’t look more beautiful even if she tried.  
“So,” Sun started as Blake took his arm and they walked to the dance, “does this mean we’re going together?”  
“Technically,” Blake responded, “Though my first dance is spoken for.”

About a half hour later, the room was filled with waltz music, Leonard wasn’t sure if it was Beethoven or Bach, but Coco had asked all the local teams (except CRDL), for music suggestions, Leonard had given her a small list and LVTHER’s “Some Kind of Magic” had already played, so he was happy, his guess was the current music was either the choice of Weiss or Samantha. On the floor, Zinnea and Blake danced happily, the two Faunas had been dancing happily, Leonard almost swore he saw a tinge of sadness in Zinnea’s eyes when she traded her position with Sun, before joining Leonard and Elizabeth, who had taken a break from dancing to get something to drink, seeing Blake laugh with Sun, they decided their work was done.  
“Glad she’s having fun,” Leonard said taking a swig of his water, glad Coco had grabbed a couple of water coolers for the people who didn’t want punch.  
“A job well done,” Zinnea added, “This means we can enjoy ourselves for the rest of the night.”  
As she walked away, Professor Ozpin replaced her, when he spoke, it was a surprise to Leonard and Elizabeth.  
“Enjoying the evening,” he asked.  
“I guess,” Leonard said shrugging, “I mean, it’s nice to see everyone having a good time, especially with how some people have been over the past few weeks.”  
Ozpin just nodded, Leonard was unsure if he knew about their extracurricular activities that had occurred since the first one, but it didn’t matter, tonight was a night for enjoyment, it was unlikely he was going to try and lecture them here.  
“Anyways,” Elizabeth said, trying to ease the tension, “We’re just enjoying everyone’s company.”  
“True,” Ozpin said, “It’s not every day that friends are able to come together like this. Time has a way of testing out bonds, but its nights like these that can keep them stronger than ever. Nights like these are ones we’ll never forget.”

The door opened, causing Velvet to perk up from her podium, as she was checking the time, the doors to the party were about to close, or at least that’s what Coco had told her, she didn’t really understand why.  
“You guys are just in time,” she said, looking up to see Emerald and Mercury stroll in, the two looked nice, Velvet silently wondered if they were dating, but doubted it.  
“We wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Mercury said with a grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this happened, I literally get Chapter 5 done the day before I start on this, and since I have nothing else to do, I pump it all out in one sitting, like shit, I didn't expect to do that, but it happened. Nice job me.
> 
> So yea, this chapter was surprisingly easy to write, mostly because I been working on a version of Leonard's speech for a few months, because reasons.
> 
> Also, glad we are going to be able to get the first mission, we'll have SNOW taking the driver seat there and I'll be able to finally explained what happened to everyone's favorite dad.
> 
> Actually forgot to add this, but we had a musical reference, since they are not my songs, I'm gonna credit them:  
> [LVTHER: Somd Kind Of Magic](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzWk_I304Sg)


	8. Chapter 7: When You Dance With Death, Lead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dance continues, with ups, downs, and surprises, but elsewhere, a shadowy force makes its move, Endgame has been called, how long before it completes.

The night continued with very little fuss, everyone was enjoying their night, students from the four kingdoms talked like longtime friends, though in a few weeks’ time, they would be rivals on the battlefield, the Vytal Festival still loomed on the horizon, leaving everyone to be friends now before the competition got under way. The room was filled with chatter and laughter, Professor Port was laughing so hard that he almost collapsed in front of Oobleck. General Ironwood asked Professor Goodwitch to dance with him, an offer she begrudgingly accepted, but anyone looking closely saw the small smile on her face, almost like she was remembering a happier time.   
Meanwhile, Jaune found himself hiding at the punch bowl, he wasn’t enjoying his evening as much as he would like, but meeting the occasional new face was nice, even if he still felt out of place here.  
“Camping out by the punch bowl, Jaune,” the voice was Orion, one of the few regular faces Jaune was talking to tonight, the taller boy was hanging out with Yatsuhashi and Fox, the dark-skinned boy signing something to Yatsu that Jaune didn’t understand, but it caused the gentle giant to let out a small chuckle.   
“Yup,” Jaune said, “Just enjoying my night as much as I can.”  
“Alright then,” Orion said, holding up his glass, “A toast to you; my socially awkward friend.”  
The four boys clinked glasses, Jaune giggling a little at the ridiculousness of it all.   
“Thanks,” he said, just glad that there were people who were willing to accept him despite how much of a joke he could be in comparison.   
“Sorry things didn’t work out with Weiss,” Orion apologized, Jaune knew he didn’t have to, but the thought was nice.   
“Meh,” Jaune said, not truly upset, “It’s fine; Neptune’s pretty cool. I get why she went with him.”  
Orion almost spit out his drink, “What?”  
“I mean come on,” Jaune continued, “How many people do you know that can pull off blue hair?”  
“Not many, but what are you talking about,” Orion reiterated, “Weiss came alone to the dance.”  
It was Jaune’s turn to nearly spit out his drink, coughing as a little went down the wrong side of this throat.   
“What,” he asked is surprise, looking over he saw Weiss playing with one of the white roses, it had drooped over, so she was attempting to fix it, considering how Coco was too busy teasing Velvet at the front podium.   
“Yea,” Orion continued, “She said she had too much to worry about without adding a date to the mix. I personally think she’s full of it, but I’m not going to push her.”  
Scanning the room, Jaune saw Neptune laughing with Sun and Blake, Neptune seemed to be mocking someone, he assumed it was Weiss, but he was actually making fun of how Scarlet had reacted when the boy had been turned down by everyone he had asked to the dance in the course of the week, the boy was devastated, Sage was performing the unpleasant duty making sure he didn’t throw a fit tonight.   
“Hold my drink,” Jaune said, marching off to go talk to Neptune, passing his punch to Orion, who jokingly asked Fox if he wanted a sip.

* * *

 

As Jaune moved his way through the crowd, he spotted Pyrrha, his partner walked off towards the balcony of the ballroom, she looked forlorn, like she wasn’t enjoying her night. As much as he wanted to immediately chew out Neptune for basically shooting down Weiss, his partner came first. Following the redhead out onto the balcony, he actually got to get a good look at Pyrrha, her red dress matched her hair, still tied up in a ponytail with her signature headband on her head, and she looked absolutely stunning, Jaune almost felt jealous of the guy she was here with tonight.  
“Hey Pyrrha,” Jaune said, surprising his partner, who was currently looking out over the city.   
“Hello Jaune,” she responded, she felt off, Jaune wasn’t sure how, but it was just something about her.   
“You okay,” he asked, “I haven’t seen you at all tonight.”  
“I arrived late,” Pyrrha said, it was a truthful excuse, the reasoning was something she wished not to talk about.   
“Well, you look really nice,” Jaune said.   
“Thank you,” Pyrrha said, refusing to look at Jaune, afraid she might do something stupid if she did.   
“Your date isn’t going to beat me up for saying that, is he,” Jaune said jokingly, but was a little concerned, Pyrrha hadn’t talked much about the dance this entire week.   
“I think you’re safe for tonight,” Pyrrha said, still taking interest in the world below.   
“So,” Jaune said, looking around, “Where is the guy?”  
Pyrrha just sighed, she supposed now would be a good time to tell Jaune the truth.   
Turning to face Jaune, she let out the truth, “There is no guy.”  
“What,” Jaune was stunned, he was expecting there to be at least someone.   
“Nobody asked me,” Pyrrha clarified, she had asked someone, but they had basically turned her down, their thoughts on someone else.   
“But that’s,” Jaune started, unsure how to word this, his brain still trying to wrap itself around the fact that Pyrrha didn’t have a date, “You’re Pyrrha Nikos! How could nobody ask you?”  
Pyrrha hung her head, “I’ve been blessed,” she said, “with incredible talents and opportunities. I’m constantly surrounded by love and praise. But when you’re placed on a pedestal like that for so long, you become separated from the people who put you on there in the first place. Everyone assumes I’m too good for them; that I’m on a level they simply can’t attain. It’s become impossible to form any sort of meaningful relationship with people,” she paused, she was right, there were only two people besides her parents she had ever been able to get truly close to, one was someone she hadn’t seen in person since she had left for Vale, the other was listening to her let it all out, “That’s what I like about you. When we met, you didn’t even know my name. You treated me just like anyone else, and thanks to you, I’ve made friendships that will last a lifetime. I guess, you’re the kind of guy I wish I was here with. Someone who saw me for me.”  
As she left, Jaune thought about going after her, trying to do something to make her night better, but as he turned around to call out for her, he saw his other issue approaching him.   
“Hey, Jaune, right,” Neptune said, the greeting was a little awkward, Jaune understanding though, he was forgettable sometimes.   
Jaune sighed, “Yeah.”  
“This party’s pretty lame, huh,” Neptune, “I mean, ballroom dancing: Lame.”  
“Yeah,” Jaune said, he wasn’t exactly enjoying tonight either.   
“Cute girls, though,” Neptune said, probably talking about Pyrrha, or someone else he had flirted with over the course of the night.   
Jaune just grunted before snapping on Neptune, “Is that all you think about?”  
Neptune looked back at him, a little confused.   
“Do you even think about the girls you’re hitting on,” He continued, thoroughly annoyed with the dapper, young man, “How they feel about you?”  
“Whoa,” Neptune said, “Where is this coming from?”  
“How could you turn her down like that,” Jaune asked.   
“Wait, who,” Neptune was still confused by all of this.   
“Weiss,” Jaune exclaimed.   
Neptune got kind of sheepish for a second, “it just didn’t work out, y’know?’  
“What,” Jaune shouted, “You think you’re too cool? Too many other options? Weiss Schnee asked you o the dance, what in the world could possibly keep you from go-.”  
“I can’t dance,” Neptune exclaimed, cutting Jaune off in surprise.   
“Beg your pardon,” Jaune was stunned.   
“I can’t dance,” Neptune repeated, truly embarrassed.   
“But you’re so cool,” Jaune said, trying to wrap his head around this.   
“Thank you,” Neptune responded, “I try really, really hard.”  
Jaune sighed again, “You would rather break a girl’s heart and go to the dance alone; than just admit to everyone you can’t move in rhythm to music?”  
“That about sums it up,” Neptune said, embarrassed.   
“Well, I certainly feel a lot better about myself,” Jaune said.   
“Please don’t tell anybody,” Neptune said, he didn’t want anyone to know, “Look, if you want Weiss, she’s all yours; I don’t want to get in your way.”  
Jaune thought about it, but decided against it, he wanted to see Weiss happy, and if that wasn’t with him, that was fine, “Do you like her,” he asked, sighing a little.   
“Yea,” Neptune answered, “I mean, I don’t know her too well yet, but she seems pretty cool.”  
“Then just go talk to her,” Jaune said, using the advice Pyrrha had given him, “No pick-up lines, no suave moves, just be yourself. I’ve heard that’s the way to go.”  
Neptune started to argue, but Jaune cut him off, “Look, you don’t have to look cool all the time. In all honesty, if you were to be a little less cool, I’d really appreciate it.”  
“Yeah, okay,” was Neptune’s only response.   
“Go talk to her,” Jaune said, “I guarantee it’ll make her night.”  
“Thanks,” Neptune, walking up to Jaune and offering his a fist-bump, “You’re a really cool guy, Jaune.”  
Jaune accepted the fist-bump, “Alright, don’t lie to my face,” he said jokingly.   
As Neptune returned to the ballroom, Jaune sighed, “Alright,” he told himself, “Only one thing left to do.”

* * *

 

Up on the second floor, Leonard and Elizabeth watched the floor, they saw their friends enjoying the evening, Samantha and Natalia were at the center of the floor, slow dancing to some slow, crooning song Natalia had asked to be put on the list, Zinnea was chatting it up with several of the students from Vacuo, all them laughing about old times and their various adventures. Blake and Sun were still dancing, as were Ren and Nora, Penny had even started dancing with the two guards that were serving as her chaperones.   
“We all needed this,” Elizabeth said.   
“We sure did,” Leonard responded, kissing his partner on the head.   
“Yea,” Coco said as she and Velvet walked up.   
“And these two did an excellent job planning it,” Leonard said with a teasing smile, “You ladies enjoying your evening.”  
“You know it,” Coco said with a grin, putting her arm around the blushing Velvet, “We didn’t do all the work though, Yatsu and Fox did a lot of the heavy lifting, and Weiss and Samantha helped out a little.”  
Elizabeth thought about Weiss, how the platinum blonde was surprisingly quiet this evening, but she felt the little worry she had pass as she saw Neptune approach the young heiress, who had been sitting alone, offering the empty seat next to her, the two talking.   
“Even with all of this, tomorrow means we are going back to work,” Leonard commented.   
“Yea,” Elizabeth said, “But I’m sure we’ll be ready to handle anything that gets thrown at us.”  
All of the sudden, laughter echoed through the ballroom, the four looked over the railing to see something that was surprise to all of them.   
“Except for that,” Coco said, unsure how she felt about the outfit Jaune was wearing, he looked good, but it felt weird seeing any guy dressed like that.

 

Jaune made his way through the crowd, not caring that they were laughing, he just wanted to see Pyrrha’s face, as she had won his bet, since she didn’t get a date to the dance, so he had to dress up like this.   
Finally pushing his way to her, Pyrrha turned around, not sure what to make of what she was looking at.   
“Jaune,” she asked, the blond boy in a simple white dress, the people around him were trying not to burst out laughing or snapping pictures on their scroll, there was no way anyone was missing this. York had started recording it, this was going down as the most ridiculous dance in Vytal Festival history.   
“A promise is a promise,” Jaune said with a shrug.   
Pyrrha couldn’t contain her laughter, she couldn’t believe that he was serious about that comment, it had been so off-hand, she never thought he was going to go through with it.   
“Jaune,” she said through her laughter, “You didn’t have to.”  
“An Arc never goes back on his word,” he said extending his hand, “Now do you want to stand there and laugh at me, or do you wanna dance?”  
Pyrrha took his hand, not believing this was happen, “I would love to dance,” she said, gasping a little as he led her to the middle of the floor.   
“Ren,” Nora shouted in excitement, “This Is Happening!”  
“Wait, what is happening,” Ren said in confusion as he was dragged to the floor.   
The four broke into a dance, it felt out of nowhere, but looked so well-choreographed, Jeff Williams’s ‘Shine’ started to play, the pop song had been such a smash hit that someone had invented a dance for it over the summer, almost everyone knew it, this surprisingly included Jaune as the music pumped out of every speaker;

But Baby, it’s time to make up your m-i-i-i-i-i-ind  
I think, that tonight is when our stars al-i-i-i-i-i-ign  
Honey, it’s time to leave the doubt beh-i-i-i-i-i-ind  
Take my hand, cuz, you and I are gonna Sh-i-i-i-i-i-ine!

“I had no idea you were a dancer,” Pyrrha said in surprise.   
“Yeah, well these things tend to happen when you grow up with seven sisters,” Jaune responded, not caring who heard, he was enjoying his night too much.

Finally deciding to move her gaze from the scene on the dance floor, Weiss felt like she needed to ask an important question.   
“So, what made you change your mind,” she asked.   
Neptune looked at her a little confused.   
“You said you were embarrassed at first,” Weiss said, “What made you come talk to me?”  
“You’re looking at him,” Neptune said, Weiss following his gaze to see Jaune, still dancing with Pyrrha on the floor.   
“You’ve got some good friends looking out for you,” he said.

From a balcony above, Emerald and Mercury watched, finally able to enact their master plan, not realizing there was one person unaccounted for.   
“It appears all the dancers have partners,” said Emerald.   
“How long do I have,” Cinder asked over the small each of them were wearing.   
“We should be home by midnight,” Mercury suggested, “Just to be safe.”  
“I’ll keep my eye on the clock,” Cinder said, before slipping on her mask.

* * *

 

Leonard had stepped outside for a breath of fresh air, he hated how stuffy the ballroom got with all those people constantly moving around, Elizabeth was talking with Samantha and Natalia, probably discussing the other thing they had noticed, especially with this dance cementing some of their theories, but not all of them, it was a discussion for later, probably before the Vytal festival got under way.   
That’s when he noticed someone running along the rooftops, the ball room was downtown, so seeing this kind of person in the middle of the night, slipping off his gloves, Leonard followed the mysterious person.

Cinder snuck her way to the CCT tower, peeking around the corner, she saw a single guard, she zipped past, she was just slow enough to get the guard’s attention, but fast enough that he didn’t see where she had gone. As the guard stepped further and further from the doors, Cinder knocked the guard out cold with a single strike on his exposed neck, dragging the body out of sight, she hid the unconscious soldier in the bushes, not noticing he had dropped his gun in the open.   
Cinder proceeded to walk in like she owned the place, she was inside, there was no way this could wrong; she had it all under control.   
“Excuse me,” one of the guards said on sight, “No one’s allowed in this area. Stop!”  
By the time the guard pulled his pistol out, Cinder was running at him, firing a few shots, he was knocked unconscious in a single punch, the second guard who rushed her with a baton was dropped with a single kick to the gut. The other two rushed her, batons drawn. Cinder used her powers to create a pair of swords, blocking the baton strikes and easily dropping the two guards.

* * *

 

On the elevator, two guards were so bored, this job was just so dull; who’s going in attack a communication tower when there’s no war going on. Ironwood’s orders said no one was allowed in the tower after it closed, so Atlesian troops were stationed here to make sure that happened.  
“Hey man,” one guard said, turning to the other, “What’s the Wi-Fi password for this place?”  
“It’s ‘Beacon’,” said the other, “But replace the ‘e’ with a ‘3’ and add a pound symbol at the end.”  
The door suddenly opened, a woman in an all-black outfit stood in front of them, long, brown hair flowed down her back, masquerade-esque mask covering most of her face. Looking past her, one of the guards saw the rest of their squad unconscious on the floor, but they did nothing as she strolled into the elevator, only attacking once she was inside, they didn’t stand a chance.

As Leonard approached the building, he spotted the guard knocked out in the bushes, realizing what this meant he sent a quick message to Elizabeth before heading inside.   
“Sorry babe, taking a walk, if you don’t hear from me in 15 minutes, alert Ozpin.”

As the elevator opened, Cinder played with the scroll she had confiscated from one of the guards.   
“That’s handy,” she said, putting the device in her back pocket.   
She made her way over to the desk, plugging a small flash drive into the open slot, hopefully Watts’s Endgame virus worked as well as the pompous ass claimed it did, her associates were really annoying sometimes.   
“A party guest is leaving,” said Emerald, interrupting Cinder’s train of thought.   
“Which one,” growled Cinder, she didn’t have time for this.   
“Ironwood,” Emerald said, causing Cinder to sigh; of course it would be him.   
“I guess the General’s had enough fun for one night,” Mercury commented, “Should we intervene?”  
“No,” Cinder ordered, Endgame’s symbol lighting up across every screen in the room, “We’re done here.”  
Before Cinder could leave, the elevator dinged, someone had arrived, she silently cursed, someone had gotten past all of them, it was either that or one of the guards had recovered quicker than she had anticipated.

The elevator opened to Leonard Thorn, he scanned the room, he saw no one, but there had to be someone here, he saw them heading this way, there was no way anyone could’ve slipped out of here that quickly.   
“Hello,” he called out, “Anyone here?”  
Silence was his only answer as he continued to walk around, going right past Cinder, who considered just trying to sneak out, but she knew Ironwood was coming, so she needed to take care of this threat now.  
Leonard felt a prick in the back of his neck, he didn’t know what it was, but the rush of his aura meant one thing, poison.   
Turning around he saw the intruder, the female figure, just smirked, thinking she had one. Leonard met her eyes and smirked back, knowing the truth.   
“Nice try,” he said, seeing the ladies smirk fall from her face as she realized her poison had been ineffective, “You’re going to have to try a lot harder than that if you want to make it out of here.”  
The lady proceeded to conjure up a row of ice projectiles, launching them at Leonard, who quickly dodged, only to be rushed by the lady, swords that had formed from swirl of fire drawn. Leonard blocked the hilts with his hands, barely keeping them from slicing him to pieces, the hilt in his left hand started to smoke, causing the lady to jump back, swords transforming into a bow with the same fiery effect, three arrows formed out of nowhere, instantly nocked and fired, Leonard barely avoiding them and the explosion that followed, without his gauntlets, he was on the defensive, no good way to deflect these blows, he really was starting to wish he had asked for the revolver before Elizabeth’s parents left for Mistral.   
Suddenly, the elevator dinged again, both looked to see General Ironwood, the older man staring down at the room, Leonard turned back with a smirk, only to realize that the woman he had been fighting was gone.

* * *

 

Cinder barely escaped, a magic spell transformed her sleek outfit into a proper ball dress, her mask dropped, only to be crushed underfoot by the guards chasing after her, their confusion when they realized she was gone, disappearing into the sea of people as they had followed her all the way back to the ball.

In the ballroom, Emerald and Mercury danced, enjoying themselves just enough for no one to suspect them of being up to something. A tap on Emerald’s shoulder caused her to turn around, seeing her boss in sleek, black dress, she looked absolutely stunning, Emerald was almost jealous she was dancing with Mercury rather than her.   
“May I cut in,” Cinder asked, only trying to make this nonchalant as possible.   
“Of course,” Emerald said, wandering off to get something to drink.   
Once Emerald had left, Mercury decided to small talk was in order.   
“So,” he started, “How’s your night been?”  
“A little more…exciting than expected,” Cinder mused.   
“Should we be worried,” Mercury asked.   
“Hardly,” Cinder said with a small smile, “They’ll be scratching their heads long after we’ve finished what we came for.”  
“So what now,” Mercury asked.   
“Enjoy the rest of the night,” Cinder responded, “After all, it is a party.”  
Around them, people continued to party and dance, all the while, Puppet’s ‘To Be Alive’ started to play over the speaker.

* * *

 

At the CCT, the various Atlesian troops were trying to figure out how their intruder had managed to get past all of them, while Leonard was asking General Ironwood something.   
“Can you pull it out,” he asked.   
“We should have someone look at it,” Ironwood started.   
“I don’t give a damn about the injury,” Leonard shouted, cutting off the General in surprise, “I don’t care if it’s barbed, it’s in my neck and I’d like it to not be there anymore.”  
Ironwood pulled out the barbed needle, causing Leonard to swear loudly.   
“It’s out,” Ironwood said, “But we are talking to Ozpin about this tomorrow.”  
“Not going to argue with that,” Leonard said, “We got a lot to talk about.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that was fun, a lot of fluffy stuff this chapter, people enjoying themselves, dancing the night away, some hints at future chapters, and some plot, I guess.
> 
> Anyways, nothing huge to talk about this chapter, but there were some musical references, you'll probably catch the big one, but I'll link both if you guys feel like listening to them.
> 
> [Jeff Williams:Shine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOsGuSezvfk)   
>  [Puppet: To Be Alive](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E0Dr95yblg)


	9. Chapter 8: Preparation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The events of last night behind them, Teams BLZE and SNOW ready themselves for a personal hunt, an attempt to stop Torchwick and company, while Team SNOW gets ready for their search, Team BLZE meets another figure from Leonard's past, the Grimm Reaper looks worse for wear, but their heart remains the same.

Professor Ozpin sat in his office with Professor Goodwitch and General Ironwood, the three were discussing the events of last night. Ozpin was massaging his temples from listening to his two colleagues argue.   
“They were here,” Ironwood said, he was worried, he never expected their enemy to make a move this bold, “Ozpin they were here!”  
“We are very much aware of that, thank you James,” Glynda said, she was having none of the General’s worry or anger.   
“Fantastic, you’re aware,” Ironwood said with a hint of sarcasm, “Now are we going to do something or should we stay the course and continue to ignore what is right in front of us.”  
The elevator to his office beeped, signaling that someone had arrived.   
“Come in,” Ozpin said, the door opened, letting Leonard Thorn enter the room, he immediately wanted to leave after seeing the looks on both General Ironwood and Professor Goodwitch’s faces.   
“Alright,” Leonard said, “So I know I was a little late, but man, am I in that much trouble?”  
“No,” Ozpin said, “at least, not yet, first, how are you feeling Mr. Thorn.”  
“Okay,” Leonard, “Just wish we had been able to catch whoever that was. Also, neck still hurts a little.”  
Leonard let out a small chuckle at that, but no one even twitched.   
“Alright, so that’s the mood for today,” he said to himself.   
“Leonard,” Ironwood said, stepping up to Leonard, “I feel it’s appropriate to let you know that I think what you did last night is exactly what being an huntsman is all about. You recognized a threat, you took action, and you did the very best you could.”  
“Thank you, sir,” Leonard said, almost saluting, but deciding against it, thinking it would be a little much.   
“Now,” Ozpin said, drawing Leonard’s attention, “the general here has already informed us of the events that, transpired last night. But now that you’ve rested, we were wondering if there was anything you would like to add.”  
Glynda proceeded to rattle off questions, “Was anyone else with her? Did she look familiar to you at all? Did she say anything to you before the General arrived?”  
Leonard took a few seconds to gather himself before answering the questions the best her could.   
“I don’t know if anyone was with her. She was wearing a mask, but there was something familiar about her,” Leonard paused, “Professor Goodwitch, the night you found me and Elizabeth trying to stop Torchwick’s robbery at a Dust shop downtown, I’m not certain, but I think last night’s intruder was her, she fought with the same fire, but this time, instead of blasts and pulses, she used weapons, almost like she was trying to keep herself hidden. Her clothing still lit up whenever she attacked”  
Ozpin looked at Goodwitch, “Minus the weapons, it does sound a lot like her, the possibility is there.”   
“She didn’t say anything to me while we were fighting,” Leonard continued, “But when the elevator opened, I overheard a conversation between her and someone else, I’m not sure who. Something about a base of operation in the southeast, that’s about it,” Leonard paused, looking Ozpin directly in the eyes, “I seriously think that this girl and everything Torchwick’s been doing could be connected, even the White Fang.”  
Ozpin sighed, “It is possible. But we still lack the evidence to link the two together. Thank you for your cooperation Leonard, why don’t you go spend some time with your team before your big mission.”  
“Thank you, Professor,” Leonard said, as he went to leave, he heard Ozpin say something to him.   
“And Mr. Thorn, please try and be, discreet about this matter.”

After Leonard had left the room, the three started discussing the implications of the new information.   
“Alright,” Ironwood said, looking out the window, “We send as many troops as we can to the southeast. We find out exactly what is going on and eradicate any forces that stand in our way.”  
Glynda just looked at him, “Why must your answer to everything involve a triumphant display of military bravado,” she asked angrily, “You treat every situation like it’s a contest of measuring d-.”  
“Glynda,” Ozpin said, cutting her off, not wanting to finish that sentence.   
“Well he does,” Glynda said, almost childish in her posture.   
Ozpin sighed, “She is right. As much as I too would love end this situation once and for all, we must remember that this may go beyond Vale, beyond Beacon. And if this truly is part of some master plan for which we not know the final move, we must not be so bold. Nor can we risk the spread of panic.”  
“I have served you faithfully for years,” Ironwood said, his tone grim, “But if you mean to tell me that your plan is to really hold the defenses and wait-.”  
“It is not,” Ozpin shouted, startling his two associates, “You’re a general, James. So tell me, when you prepare to go to war. Which do you send in first, the flag-bearer or the scouts?”

 

* * *

 

_Team BLZE dorm_

Leonard opened his dorm room to his team discussing the events of last night with Team SNOW, Elizabeth noticed the door open and within seconds, both teams were upon him, staring him down expectantly.   
Zinnea was the first question, “So, what happened?”  
Leonard explained the situation, as well as what he had told Ozpin, including the part of what they had learned from the White Fang meeting.   
“Alright,” Weiss said, “Now what?”  
“Today’s our first official mission,” Blake said, “We have an objective, the least we could try is to do missions in that area.”  
“So were aiming for missions in the southeast,” Samantha said, “Preferably involving the tracking of criminal activity or hunting Grimm.”  
Zinnea audibly groaned, “If only we had something more than a general area of a quarter of Vale.”  
“It’s the best we got,” Elizabeth said, “For now, that’s going to have to be enough.”  
“There’s something else,” Leonard said, he knew they were going to need help eventually, it was best to make this suggestion now, “After this, no matter how this goes, when we’re done, we need to get the others involved.”   
“Leonard,” Blake said, “What are you talking about?”  
Elizabeth knew what he was talking about, they had the conversation on the way to Samuel’s during their hunt for Roman and the Fang.   
“Are you sure,” she asked, she had been cautious about this, mostly because the other teams weren’t involved yet, she wanted to keep it that way, they shouldn’t have to involve themselves in something that wasn’t about them, “Jaune and Coco don’t have any connections to this in their teams, we shouldn’t force of them if we don’t have too.”  
“Elizabeth,” Leonard said, “If what she said is true, we are going to be in way over our heads, we are going to need more help.”  
“Leonard,” Blake said again with more force, forcing the pair to look at the set of concerned faces in the room.  
Leonard sighed, “Last time we were at Samuel’s, we met someone, we’ll introduce all of you to her when these missions are done, but for now all you need to know is she said some things, I don’t believe all of what she said, but there’s the possibility that what we are trying to fight is only part of something bigger. If that’s the case, we are in way deeper than we realize, we are going to need help, people we trust, and I feel like we can trust Teams CFVY and JNPR.”  
The rest looked at him in solemn silence, not sure what to make of what Leonard had just said, but they all knew he was right, they were about to be in over their heads.   
“Alright,” Orion said.   
“We’ll talk about this after the missions,” Samantha said, “For now, we need to focus.”  
All of the sudden, the P.A. system burst to life; the sound of Professor Goodwitch carried through the halls.   
“All first year students, please report to the amphitheater.”

* * *

 

They two teams entered the amphitheater to a cacophony of voices, everyone from the various academies all talking amongst themselves.   
“Quiet,” Goodwitch said over the microphone, her voice echoed over the entire crows, slowly silencing everyone, “Quiet please.”  
Once the room had quieted enough, she finally spoke again, “Professor Ozpin would like to share a few words before we begin.”  
Ozpin cleared his throat before beginning his speech, “Today we stand together, united. Mistral. Atlas. Vacuo. Vale. The four kingdoms of Remnant. On this day nearly eighty years ago, the largest war in recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of greed, and of oppression. A war that was about much more than where borders fell or who traded with whom. But about the very idea of individualism itself. We fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms of art and self-expression. As you all are well aware, that was not something many could stand for. As a result, those who opposed this tyranny began naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself, color. It was their way not only to demonstrate that not only would refuse to tolerate this oppression, but neither would the generation to come, and it is a trend that continues to this very day. We encourage individuality, expression, and unity through diversity. As I have said, today we stand together, united, but this bond can’t exist without effort. Which is why today, while the rest of the world celebrates peace, huntsmen and huntresses will work to uphold it. As first year students, you will be tasked with shadowing professional a huntsman or huntress, on a mission. Some of you may be taken out of the kingdom for several days, others may work within the walls for the rest of the week. No matter the path you choose, remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your best.”  
The eight looked at each other and nodded, Samantha and Blake taking their respective teams off to find missions, just shadowing a huntsman in the southeast shouldn’t be too hard. Blake found one easily, a simple Grimm hunt in the southeast outside of Vale, it was starting the next day, but Goodwitch informed them that the huntsman they were shadowing was already here, they could meet him in the courtyard out front if they wished.   
Team SNOW was having a bit harder time as they looked through the list of missions, many of them in the southwest or northeast, but none in the southeast. After several minutes of searching, Weiss found one.   
“Alright,” Samantha said, looking at the mission, “Quadrant 5 needs to be cleared of Grimm.”  
“It is in the southeast,” Natalia pointed out.   
“Alright then,” Samantha said, entering their team name into the computer, only to have the message, ‘Mission Unavailable to First Year Students’ pop up on screen.   
“Wonderful,” Weiss said sarcastically.   
“Any other ideas,” Samantha asked.   
“We could stowaway,” Orion suggested, the three looking at him with a little surprise.   
“That is an interesting option,” Ozpin said, “Unfortunately, we determined the concentration of Grimm was too extreme for first year students. It seems that particular region is rather popular. In fact, I have a sneaking suspicion that the four of you will make your way there no matter which job you choose.”  
“What makes you say that,” Orion asked, ignoring the glares from his teammates.   
“While you four were not directly involved in the incident at the docks earlier this semester. I am very interested how your friend’s in Team BLZE also learned about the ‘hideout’ in the southeast, probably the story about the robot tearing down a highway that was found in pieces in the area below would provide some explanation.”  
The four looked quite guilty, remembering that night, including the high-speed chase that had involved said robot.   
“I doubt I’ll ever find the exact answers I’m looking for. So, how about this, instead of breaking the rules, why don’t we just bend them.”  
Ozpin pressed some buttons on his scroll, and the message disappeared, replaced by one that said their huntsman would be waiting outside.   
“Thank you professor,” Samantha said, “We won’t let you down.”  
“Do not thank me for this,” Ozpin said, “Teamwork and persistence have carried you far, but you must understand, the things that await you beyond the protection of the kingdom will not care. Stay close to your huntsman at all times, he will be leading you on this mission and he can send you back to Beacon if he finds your skills to be, unsatisfactory. Good luck.”  
As Ozpin left, the four members of Team SNOW, faces once lit up with anticipation, found themselves nervous, he was right, where they were going, they would be at the mercy of the Huntsman in charge.

* * *

 

Meanwhile, Team BLZE was in the front courtyard, looking for the huntsman who was in charge of their mission. All of the sudden one of the second year students rushed past.   
“Guys,” he shouted, “Team CRSN is back.”  
The four watched team of second year students walk by, the solemn looks on their faces caused Leonard to run up, greeting his old friend, the team leader, Chancellor Skyrunner.  
“Chance,” Leonard called out, causing the dirty blonde to turn around, “You guys okay? It’s been weeks.”  
Chance sighed, “I’m fine, just glad we all made it back ok.”  
“What happened,” Elizabeth asked, as she had appeared next to Leonard, “You guys were supposed to be back two weeks ago.”  
“Nothing happened,” he said, face getting the solemn look passing over his face, “There were just so many, it felt like an endless horde.”  
Looking at the faces of the first year students, Chance smiled, trying to cheer them up, “You guys shouldn’t have to worry though,” he said, “First years will be shadowing huntsmen and huntresses, you’ll be in good hands.”  
“Alright,” Leonard said, as the rest of his team left to find their huntsman, he stayed to chat with Chancellor, “So, you guys going to be participating in the festival this year?”  
“Maybe,” the older boy said, “We got our butts kicked last year.”  
Leonard cracked a smile, “Well, I talked to Lucas while you guys were away, he said his team isn’t participating this year, something about Professor Lionheart not wanting them to stomp the tourney again.”  
“Hey, it is not my fault my brother’s team leader is impossible to fight,” Chance argued, “At least with Linen’s semblance, the clone takes something out of him to sustain it, but holy fuck, I don’t know what Janus is on, but that stupid clone felt like it was getting stronger as we fought, they both were.”  
Leonard just chuckled, he had watched the fight between Teams CRSN and JOLT last year, for the most part, the two teams were evenly matched, but the team leader of JOLT had an interesting semblance, a clone technique no one fully understood, but it had been enough to overpower the members of Team CRSN, leading to their defeat.   
“Chancellor,” shouted someone, the voice belonging to Rebecca, Chancellor’s partner, “Come on, Ozpin wants a report!”  
“I should get going,” Chancellor said, a scream echoing across the courtyard, “And from the sound of things, you should too.”

Leaving his friend, Leonard made his way towards his team, who had left him to go find their huntsman, and he found a sight he should have been expecting, but nevertheless, surprised him anyways. Blake was trying to hide behind Zinnea, the other girl trying to talk down their team captain.   
“Blake its fine,” Zinnea said, “Ow, watch the nails. Blake, he just wants to say hello.”  
“Z,” Blake said, fear definitely in her voice as she stared down the beast on the other side of Zinnea, “You know how I feel about them.”  
“I do,” Zinnea said, trying to calm Blake, “But I really don’t think he’s going to attack you.”  
“Why are we assuming it’s a ‘he’,” Elizabeth asked.   
“Does it really matter,” Blake argued, “Just keep it away from me.”  
“Careful,” Leonard teased as he walked up, seeing the source of Blake’s stress was a large German Shepard, who while it wanted to meet their team leader, was content with the ear scratches Elizabeth was giving it, “I think it can smell fear.”  
Blake gave Leonard an annoyed glare while their other teammates laughed, the dog barked once, causing Blake to go back to cowering behind Zinnea.   
“Hey buddy,” Leonard said, kneeling down next to the animal, letting it sniff his hand before starting to give it some scratches, “Where’s your owner? Let’s see if you go some tags on you.”  
Leonard started looking for the animal’s collar, finding it he saw only one tag, a symbol he thought he wouldn’t see again, a head outlined by fire, it almost looked like a dragon. Leonard fell backwards as he heard a voice that he hadn’t heard in thirteen years.   
“Zwei,” the voice called out, “Here boy!”  
Zwei barked, but refused to leave the scratches still being given to him.   
Finally the man came over, his blond hair looking like he had just gotten out of bed, he smiled at the four of them, but Leonard saw those eyes, filled with a sadness few could understand, the kind of look where your world’s fallen apart, but you need to keep going, for those who you lost. His outfit was a combination of civilian clothes and bits of armor, a pair of black bracelets sat on each wrist, Ash Celica, what would have been a gift for his oldest now sat as a constant reminder, a bayonetted rifle slung over his back, it was her weapon, the one of his second love.   
Leonard was lost for words, staring at the man who was in front of him. The man looked at the four of them, there was this feeling he couldn’t shake that the boy in black gauntlets looked familiar, but with how long he had been out there, it was possible he just looked like someone he had helped in his travels.   
“Hello,” he said, “I’m sorry, but I’m a bit lost, I was supposed to meet the team that signed up for my mission, do you guys have any idea where I could find them? Glynda said it was a Team ‘BLZE’.”  
Leonard shook himself to clear his head, looking up at the man, he got himself to his feet, now eye to eye with the man. Leonard swallowed, trying find his voice.   
“That would be us,” Leonard said, gesturing to himself and his teammates.   
“Oh,” the man said, “I’m Taiyang Xiao Long, it’s a pleasure to meet all of you,” as he started to shake Leonard’s hand he made an odd assumption, “You must be the team leader, what’s your name, Baxter, Barry, Blake?”  
Leonard looked at him stunned, slowly pulling his hand away he pointed to Blake, who was still cowering behind Zinnea, “That’s our team leader,” he said, “My name is Leonard Thorn,” he paused as Taiyang’s eyes widened, “It’s been a long time Mr. Xiao Long.”  
“Leonard,” Taiyang whispered, “How?”  
He had tears in his eyes, he knew he had been away for a while, but this.   
“It’s been thirteen years,” Leonard said.   
Tai sighed, “Come on, we have a lot to talk about.”  
“Alright,” Leonard said, “But first can you call of Zwei, my team leader had issues with dogs.”  
“Zwei, stop bothering the Faunas, heel,” Taiyang commanded.   
“I’m fine with the dog,” Zinnea said.   
Tai looked the two over, “I know,” he said with a sly grin, “But the other one doesn’t.”  
Blake and Zinnea looked at each other shocked as the four followed Taiyang back into the school.

* * *

 

Meanwhile, Team SNOW looked at the huntsman with a different kind of shock, they were more surprised that this one was allowed to be in charge of anything considering how he ran his class, a pace almost no one could keep up with.   
“Alright, ladies and gentleman,” Doctor Oobleck said to their surprised faces, “Who’s ready to fight for their lives?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that was fun to write, finding a place to put in everyone's favorite mutt was hard, but I got him in, he's just a little bigger than last time.  
> Also, I'll get an official character list for Team CRSN up later, but for now, they'll remain somewhat mysterious. As for Team JOLT, they're going to have to remain mostly anonymous for now, mostly because a certain someone on that team had a connection to one of our more liked characters.  
> And for everyone's favorite dad, Tai's been going through a lot since everyone died, he's been dealing with it, he painted Ember Celica black, renaming them too, an 
> 
> Finally, if you caught the reference, I recommend checking more about [them here](https://echollama.tumblr.com/). If you didn't still check them out, I love their OC's and they will be making background references to them in the future.


	10. Chapter 9: History Entombed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team SNOW find themselves on the graves of thousands, hunting an enemy that may be bigger than they really imagined.

Team SNOW just continued to stare at the madman of a professor who was looking at them.   
“Professor Oobleck,” Weiss said questioningly, this was nothing like they were expecting.   
“Yes, I assume you were expecting something more, but seeing as you have opted to shadow a huntsman on what is an essentially a reconnaissance mission. I can assure you that we will not be establishing a single base of operations. Rather we will be traversing several miles of hazardous wasteland, and making camp in any inhabitable location we may stumble upon. I’ve packed all our essentials myself, provided the air course, and readied the airship,” he quickly listed off, looking at the four, silently noting his speech was for not, as no one had anything that would be considered baggage with them, except for Orion, who had his guitar with him, “And! It’s Dr. Oobleck. I didn’t earn a PhD for fun, thank you very much. Come now children, according to my schedule, we are already three minutes behind, schedule,” as he finished his sentence, he ran for the airship in record time, no one was sure if the super-speed was his semblance or his caffeine addiction.   
“Alright,” Samantha said, trying to stay positive, “Looks like we are going to save the world with, Dr. Oobleck…okay, yeah, it does not sound better when said out-loud.”  
“Save the world,” called out a rambunctious ginger.   
Behind them, Team JNPR was walking up to wish their friends good luck.   
“You’re going on world-saving missions without us,” Nora cried out in mock hurt, “I’m hurt and sad! Maybe a little bit hungry? That last one’s not your fault though, Ren,” she glared at her partner, who just looked away, the two had obviously gotten into some sort of spat, most likely involving pancakes, knowing Nora.   
“Sounds exciting,” Jaune said, drawing attention from the ‘couple’, “Where are you guys going?”  
“Just outside the kingdom,” Samantha said.   
“Hey! So are we,” Nora said excitedly.   
“Ren and Nora wanted to shadow the sheriff of a nearby village,” Pyrrha explained.   
“We set out tomorrow,” Ren added.   
“Then you guys can party with us tonight,” Neptune said, suddenly appearing next to Ren with Sun, “We’re shadowing a crime specialist, all inner-city detective stuff. We get junior badges.”  
Jaune was a little jealous, that sounded awesome.   
“We normally go to the city with you guys, or Team BLZE,” Sun said, “which means stuff’s exploding and stuff. So we thought this might be a better way to check out the kingdom when it’s y’know, normal.”  
“Well,” Samantha started, before being cut off by the shouting of Oobleck.   
“Four minutes!”  
“Wish us luck,” she said, trying to keep herself from screaming, the awkward air being something meant to be left behind.

* * *

 

After getting on the ship, Orion finally allowed himself to say what was on his mind.   
“I’ll be honest Dr. Oobleck, I’ve never seen you as much of a fighter.”  
“I admit, I fancy myself as more of an intellectual,” Oobleck said, “but I can assure you, as a huntsman, I’ve had my fair share of tussles.”  
“Did he said tussles or truffles,” Samantha asked, whispering the question into Natalia’s ear.   
“I thought he said brussels,” she responded.   
“Besides,” Oobleck continued, “given my expertise in the field of history, as well as my dabbling in the art of archeological surveys, our dear headmaster saw it fit to assign me to this particular, assignment.”  
“What does history have to do with this,” asked Weiss.   
“What a preposterous question,” Oobleck said in surprise, “Why, history is the backbone of our very society. And the liver, and probably the kidneys if were to wager!”  
“And that means...” Weiss started.   
“The southeast of quadrant outside of Vale is home to wild forests and deep caves,” Oobleck said, cutting the heiress off, “but, it is also the location one of the kingdom’s greatest failures.”  
“Mountain Glenn,” Orion said, being the local in the group, he remembered the stories about town that became a tomb, “It was an expansion of Vale, but in the end it was overran by Grimm and fenced off from the rest of the city.”  
“Correct,” Oobleck responded, “And now it stands abandoned, as a dark reminder.”  
“And a likely place for a hideout,” Natalia added.   
“Precisely,” Oobleck said with grin, his smile a sign that he knew exactly why they were here.

* * *

 

The five jumped out of the ship with ease, the four huntsmen and huntresses in training landed weapons ready, their supervisor taking a long sip from his thermos.   
Looking around, the group saw nothing but ruins, the wind howled and tumbleweeds blew by, the place felt like graveyard, a place where not even Grimm would live.   
“Children,” Oobleck said, “you still may be students, but at this moment, your first mission as a huntress or huntsman has begun. From this point forward, you need to do exactly as I say. Do you understand?”  
The four nodded, but Oobleck looked at Orion who still had his guitar on his back.   
“Orion,” Oobleck said sharply, “I thought I said to leave all belongings at the school, I packed all the essentials.”  
Orion just looked back at Oobleck and considered rolling his eyes as he responded, he didn’t go through with that thought.   
“Sir, it’s just my guitar,” he responded, “I thought if we were going to be out here for a few days, I thought it would be a good way to keep people’s spirits up if we found ourselves in a bad spot.”  
“We’re here to investigate an abandoned urban jungle, potentially teeming with death and hostility and you brought a guitar”, Oobleck then paused, causing Orion to just shrug, slightly embarrassed, “Excellent idea,” Oobleck exclaimed, “The ability to keep team spirits high during long missions in essential as a huntsman or huntress, as low spirits are more likely to attract Grimm.”  
The rest of Orion’s team looked stunned.   
“Alright,” Orion muttered, “Not the response I was expecting.”  
Natalia just looked at the professor, “So what are your orders, sir?”  
“Ah! Yes,” Oobleck, snapping him back to reality, “Straight to the chase, I like it! As you have been informed the southeast area has been marked as a recent hotspot for Grimm activity. Now there are several possible explanation for this behavior. One of which being, Grimm.”  
The four looked at each other, “Excuse me,” Samantha said questioningly, feeling like they had all missed something.   
“Grimm,” Oobleck explained, “A creature of Grimm approximately one hundred yards from us at this very moment.”  
“What,” Orion exclaimed, the four turned, weapons drawn, or in Samantha’s case, dice out. Looking down the road they were standing on they spotted a single Beowolf, they could take it, but something odd happened.   
“Stop,” Oobleck said, causing them all to falter, “There are a number of reasons Grimm would congregate in this particular area. The most likely would be their attraction to negativity, sadness, envy, loneliness, hatred, all qualities that are likely held by our group harboring ill intent.”  
“So, now what,” asked Samantha.   
“We wait,” Oobleck said, “We track, if this specimen leads us to its pack, that pack may subsequently lead us to our prey.”  
“And that will take how long,” asked Weiss, not looking forward to a long trip spent out in the wilderness.   
“It’s uncertain,” Oobleck said, “hours, days, weeks, why lone Grimm have been known to stay isolated for months from the, and there’s the whole pack.”  
“What,” exclaimed Weiss, all of the noticing how one Beowolf became several dozen.   
“And now they’ve seen us,” added Oobleck.   
“What,” said Weiss for a second time.   
“And now they’ve seen us,” Oobleck shouted.   
“Alright,” Samantha said, her dice shining as it transformed to Crescent Moon in her hand, “I take it that tracking is out of the question.”  
“A safe assumption,” responded Oobleck.   
“So what’s the plan,” Orion asked, the four looking at Oobleck.   
His order was simple, “Show me what you’re capable of.”

The four went into combat with the pack of Grimm, Orion blasting and hacking his way through several Grimm, Natalia using grappling hooks, hidden spikes, machine pistols, and tasers to take down even more, Weiss’s weapon left dead Grimm in its wake, their bodies covered in gashes and stab wounds, and Samantha used Crescent Moon to pump rounds into a charging group of Grimm, the last one dying as she sliced it in two with her scythe.   
“That wasn’t so bad,” she said.   
“That will only be the first of many bouts you will be facing during our time here,” Oobleck said, and he couldn’t have been more right.

The next few hours were spent with fighting Grimm, or at least for Team SNOW. Doctor Oobleck spent the time studying the area, he was looking for something, some sign of why Grimm would be congregating here of all places, it just didn’t make enough sense without solid evidence of human activity, last time it had been like this too, but even more lives were possibly at stake, they had failed last time, this time would be different, they would succeed, they would find whoever was behind this before it was too late.   
After the latest sector had been cleared of Grimm, Oobleck spoke, trying to keep the group’s spirit up.   
“Excellent work,” he said, “unfortunately there doesn’t appear to be any signs of criminal activity in this sector either. Oh well, moving on!”  
“Hey doc,” Orion called out, causing Oobleck to turn and look at his four, very worn-out charges, “You know, I was looking forward to seeing a pro huntsman in action, like fighting or at least helping us fight.”  
“Ah, but I am in action,” countered Oobleck, “scouring the ruins of this once great city for any irregularities, not every mission is filled with terror, action, and heroism, sometimes it’s just a heightened form of extermination. Remember, this is a job and you all signed up for it, I do hope you all understand that.”  
“Well, yeah,” Orion said as Oobleck stared him down, “Of course.”

* * *

 

A couple hours later, during yet another fight against the Grimm, Oobleck started asking the various team members a single question, it was something none of them were expecting it.   
Orion was the first.   
“Orion, once it is all over, then what?”  
“Huh?”  
“Once you have graduated, what exactly do you plan to do as a huntsman?”  
“Go out and help the world, there’s so much out there to do, so many people who need help, it doesn’t matter if they’re human or faunas, they need help, so I’ll go out and do that.”  
“I see.”

Weiss was next.   
“And you Ms. Schnee, I’m surprised you decided to choose this over a cushy job in Atlas, so what do you plan on after you’re graduated.”   
“As you said, I’m a Schnee, part of that means upholding my family’s legacy, but I decided I wanted to do it my way, which does not mean sitting behind a desk in Atlas, I’m going to make a name not for just myself, but for my family, so when it’s time for me to inherit the family business, it will be a welcome with open arms, not just by the company, but by everyone.”  
“Interesting.”

After her it was Natalia.   
“What about you Natalia, you seem to carry yourself with a sense of purpose, what are your plans after all of this.”  
“I grew up in a family that started from nothing, became big in the only way they knew how, and I have ended up being part of a bridge that connected the two halves of a split culture. If I have any plans, it’s finding a way to make that bridge no longer a thing, to make it so everything about my home can be one thing, take the good with the bad, and see it for what it truly is, beautiful.”  
“And how will you go about doing that?”  
“I-I, uh, I’m not sure.”  
“Hmmmm.”

When it came time for Samantha to be asked, it never happened, Oobleck had come across her playing with the guitar she had swiped from Orion earlier in the day, playing a horribly off-key version of one of Orion’s songs, fortunately it was just the instrumental, the lyrics were a whole other story.  
Noticing Oobleck watching her, she tried to hide the guitar behind her back.   
“Sorry,” she quickly apologized, “Are we ready to keep going?”  
“No,” Oobleck responded, “I believe that will have to do for today. It’s going to be dark soon,” Oobleck finished his sentence by tossing his bag to Orion.   
“You three, set up camp inside that building behind you. Oh, and please to make sure there are no more of those creatures. Your leader and I are going to secure the perimeter, come Samantha.”  
The three went inside, wondering if Samantha would get a similar question to what they did.

Turning a corner, Samantha heard the howl of something huge, her breath taken away by the sight in front of her.   
“Whoa,” she whispered, “What is that?”  
“That my dear girl, is a Grimm,” Oobleck said, causing Samantha to activate her semblance, rolling into White Death, the sniper rifle glistening in the sunset.   
“Let’s kill it,” she said, loading the rifle.   
“It’s afraid your weapon would do nothing more than agitate a Grimm of that size,” Oobleck said.   
“What if it attacks us,” Samantha asked, it was a legitimate concern.   
“Fret not, those goliaths are not concerned with us. Samantha, not even Grimm is mindless,” Oobleck said, “the Grimm before you are so powerful, so superior to the Grimm you fought, that they’ve undoubtedly lived hundreds of years. And in that time between killings humans and attacking our borders, they’ve done one important thing, they’ve learned. They’ve learned that when they attack our borders, they’re likely to die. And what we lack in strength, we make up for in will. And that killing one human, will only bring more.”  
“Then why are they still so close to the city,” she asked, “What are they doing?”  
“Waiting,” said Oobleck, before walking off, Samantha stared at the great beasts, they seemed peaceful, but she knew that if given the chance, they would destroy Vale.   
Following Oobleck back to their camp, Samantha asked one last question.   
“Doctor Oobleck,” she said, causing him to turn around, “I was wondering-“  
“Why I’ve been interrogating your teammates all day,” Oobleck finished, he was surprised she had taken so long to ask.   
“A little,” Samantha said, “But there was something else, what did you do after graduating?”  
Oobleck was a little stunned, but he digressed the information, she did ask after all.   
“At first I wanted to help people, go out and save everyone I could using my weapon, semblance, and wit. I did well, I was never the best, but I saved a lot of lives, or at least that’s what I told myself. Over time I realized something though, I may be able to help people every day, but as I grew older, it became a realization that I wouldn’t be able to do this forever. So, instead of helping the people directly, I decided to help the next generation, the strongest weapon is knowledge, I have been able to pass it on to everyone who passes through my classroom. I hopefully I can make a world where this never happens again.”

* * *

 

Inside their temporary base, Natalia, Orion, and Weiss had gotten everything set up, the three just sat around, talking about the day.   
“I still can’t believe we didn’t find anything,” Orion said.   
“It’s only been one day,” Natalia said, “Besides, if we don’t find anything, I’m certain BLZE will, those four are like a magnet for trouble.”  
After several seconds of silence, Weiss spoke, she had been relatively quiet since Oobleck talked to her.   
“How am I even going to do it,” she said, completely surprising the other two, “How am I going to be able to create my own legacy while keeping myself in the family?”  
The other two looked at each other, Orion was the first to speak, “It’s a process, you have to take it one step at a time, and even if you have an idea of what you want to do, real life is not always that easy.”  
“We will pull through it,” Natalia continued, “We know what we want to do with our lives, and that should be enough.”  
“We know what we want to do,” Orion added, “But does that mean it’s what we’ll end up doing. We all know how Leonard’s been feeling about this, he’s not anxious or nervous. He’s truly scared. I’ve known him for years and he’s only been that kind of scared once, so seeing him like that again, even if he’s controlling it better this time, it’s unsettling. What are we getting ourselves into?”

* * *

 

Before either could answer, Doctor Oobleck burst into the room, observing the campfire Orion had finished.   
“Wonderful,” he exclaimed, “A textbook campfire.”  
“Fire,” Samantha gasped, running in and grabbing Natalia, the two curling up next to the campfire, “So warm.”  
“Very good,” Professor Oobleck said, “Eat your dinners and head to bed. We have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow and we’ll need you to take turns keeping watch over the temporary adobe, any volunteers to take first watch?”  
Samantha raised her hand, Oobleck rushing up to the second floor to find a good place to lay his head.   
As Samantha went to leave, Natalia stopped her, “Hey babe, did Oobleck ask you anything today?”  
Samantha thought about it for a second before responding, “He didn’t, weird. Oh well, ‘night team, I’ll be grabbing one of you in a couple of hours.”  
As the three laid down, Samantha stared off into the distance.   
“Hopefully things will be better tomorrow,” she said to herself, wondering what kind of adventures laid ahead of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so the couple of chapters focused on Team SNOW begin here, hopefully you guys like these, because when Volume 4 rolls around, they will be following Weiss.  
> Also, maybe there will be a side story involving Team SNOW and the story of Grimm Eclipse as Orion has a little story tied to it.


	11. Chapter 10: Under The Mountain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team SNOW continues their search on Mountain Glenn, and what they find may be bigger than they realized.  
> Meanwhile, Team BLZE makes a promise.

While Team SNOW was out on their mission and Team BLZE was busy hanging with their friends before their mission started tomorrow, one man was staring off into the night. General Ironwood overlooked all of Vale from the landing platform near the entrance for Beacon, he had a lot on his mind, most of it involving the events of the past few days.  
“Trouble sleeping,” a voice asked, looking over his shoulder he saw Professor Goodwitch.  
“Arm was acting up,” he said, it was part of the reason he was up, but not the only one.  
“Of course,” Glynda said, “So, logically, you got out of bed, dressed yourself completely, and decided to gaze out menacingly out into the distance. What’s wrong?”  
Ironwood smiled a little, she was ever the sarcastic one, but she truly cared, maybe it was one of the reasons they had once tried to be something more.  
“I’ve trusted him for years,” Ironwood said, “We both have. I just, I can’t help but feel like he’s keeping us in the dark.”  
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Glynda chided, “You know very well that we are not the ones in the dark.”  
“That makes it worse,” Ironwood responded, a little upset, “I refuse to believe that a man I’ve trusted for so long would act so, passively.”  
“You’re a good person, James,” Glynda said, “You’ve always done what you think it best for the people, even against strong protest. It’s admirable. But it’s high time you stop talking about trust and started showing it. Ozpin has experience the rest of us lack, and I think that’s something worth remembering.”

 

* * *

 

_Dorm Party_

Team BLZE were with Teams SSSN, JNPR, CFVY, and a few more, the group was enjoying on last night before their missions the next day.  
“I still can’t believe we didn’t need to convince Blake to come,” Leonard whispered to Elizabeth, their team leader was talking to Sun, Zinnea, Velvet, and a lion Faunas, who left the conversation to go talk to one of the members of Sun’s team.  
“She’s enjoying herself,” Elizabeth whispered, “Let her have that. Besides, even though she won’t admit it, this kind of environment is something she’s desperately needed.”  
“You see it too,” Leonard said, they both had learned to read people with the help of Orion while they were at Signal, “It’s like there’s a weight no longer on her shoulders. It’s nice, I wish she would tell us more, but…”  
“She’ll tell us when she’s ready,” Elizabeth finished, before making her own point, “We should probably do the other talk before the Vytal Festival.”  
Leonard had noticed it too, how Pyrrha played with her hair while she talked to Jaune, the way Nora and Ren seemed to constantly be together despite the variety of people to talk to, the blush of Velvet’s face when Coco came up behind her, and the way Zinnea looked at Blake, and the way Blake would sometimes look at her back, both doing it while the other wasn’t looking  
“So at what point do we start making bets on which couple cracks first,” Leonard said jokingly.  
Elizabeth lightly smacked him on the head, “Let them be,” she said, “You can tease them when we decide which one is as oblivious as Jaune.”  
Leonard sighed, of all the relationships they witnessed here at Beacon, Pyrrha’s pining for Jaune was probably the most one sided; the poor boy was so oblivious. Hopefully he came to his senses before it was too late.  
“What you guys talking about,” Zinnea asked, sitting down next to the two with Blake, Leonard looked up to see that Sun had been dragged off by Neptune to be the referee for an arm-wrestling match between the blue haired boy and York.  
“Not much,” he said, “just talking about the things we see. You’d be surprised how easy to spot people in love after you’ve been together for so long,” seeing the looks on the two Faunas faces, Leonard let out a chuckle.  
“Don’t worry, we’re not going to tell anyone either of your secrets,” Elizabeth said, “Besides, it’s a lot more fun to see it happen on its own terms, alas, we only have so much time before we die.”  
“What’s that supposed to mean,” asked Blake.  
“We’ve chosen a line of work where a single day can cause all of this to come tumbling down,” Leonard said, all four knew he spoke from experience, “Sometimes I wonder why people choose this line of work.”  
“We all have our reasons,” Zinnea said, “Some of those may be selfish, others may be selfless, either way, we’re here, trying to save the world, and prove to someone that we can make a difference.”  
Blake sighed, “I still don’t know why I’m doing this some days. All my life, I’ve fought for what was right, for peaceful equality, but now, I’m not sure if that’s even possible,” she paused, the rest surprised by this, not knowing where it had come from, “I used to have a partner, his name was Adam. He was more of a mentor, but we were so close, it felt like we were partners. He always assured me that what we were doing would make the world a better place, unfortunately, his idea of a perfect future wasn’t for everyone. He’s the reason I left, the reason why I decided to become a huntress. Huntsmen and huntresses are considered the noblest warriors in the world. I’ve never really thought past that, how will I undo so many years of hate?”  
“You won’t have to do it alone,” Zinnea said, putting her hand of Blake’s shoulder.  
Blake looked at all of them, before she could argue, Elizabeth cut her off.  
“She’s right. Even if you weren’t our leader, you’re our teammates, we’d easily follow you to hell and back.”  
“And since we might be heading that way anyways,” Leonard said, Blake thought he was joking, but the look in his eyes was dead serious, “might as well make a few pit stops along the way.”

 

* * *

 

_Mountain Glenn_

Samantha eyed a Beowolf through the scope of White Death, she was so bored, her three teammates and their chaperone slept behind her.

Behind her, slept around the campfire, the rest of Team SNOW tried to sleep, tried being the key word, Orion found himself staring at the ceiling of the ruined building they were hiding in.  
“Natalia, Weiss,” he quietly called out, “You guys awake?”  
“Yea,” Natalia grumbled, she was a little cranky because she really couldn’t sleep. Weiss didn’t respond, but Orion saw her shift, her white hair was let out of its ponytail, as it cascaded over her as she rolled over.  
“Why did Oobleck ask us those questions,” Orion asked, “Like, what was he trying to say?”  
“Maybe he was curious,” Natalia answered sleepily.  
“You think?”  
“No…”  
“What do you think Weiss,” Orion asked, curious on what his partner had to say.  
Weiss grumbled before responding, “I think that when I said I wanted to make my own legacy, but still be recognized as the heiress I am. I meant it, I’m not stupid, I know when my father took control the company’s been in a moral grey area. When I take over, I want the world to know that even though my father is part of my legacy, I am not his. He did not start our family name and I refuse to let him by the end of it.”  
Natalia sighed, “All my life, I’ve lived in two worlds, seen a city divided in two by reasons not even the elders would understand, we just want to make it whole. But that is going to involve breaking down a wall that has existed for so long, I’m not even sure where we’ll begin.”  
“You two will be able to do it,” Orion said, before sighing, “At least you three know what you want to do after graduation. Me, I just want to help people, but I don’t even know where to begin. I don’t have an inheritance, my legacy has been people, but no name. I might as well be a stray dog living among a group of pedigrees. I know what I want to do, but I’m an empath with guitar and a shotgun, not exactly someone who’s going to be able to help a lot of people.”  
Weiss sighed, “We all have this vision of what we want to do when we have graduated, but in the end it all boils down to one thing, helping others who can’t help themselves. It’s a job, and even with everything we want to do, sometimes that will have to come second.”

Later that night, the campfire now just hot cinders, Samantha couldn’t get comfortable, at the ‘lookout’ position, Orion was busy trying to pluck out a tune on his guitar, getting annoyed with himself because it sounded wrong. Samantha thought about rolling back over to try and sleep, but decided a little bit of a walk wouldn’t hurt. As she found herself outside, she walked around, trying to get herself worn out enough to actually go back to sleep. She yawned loudly, covering her mouth instantly when she heard a voice that wasn’t one she recognized.  
“What was that,” the voice said, Samantha instantly hiding.  
“What was what,” asked a second voice. Samantha poked her head out around the corner to see two White Fang members, both armed with standard Atlesian rifles, most likely supplied by Torchwick.  
“I thought I heard something,” the first voice said, looking around nervously, “Let’s just finish our patrol and get back to base, this place gives me the creeps.”  
Samantha quietly followed them, her dice in one hand, ready to give herself a weapon should the need arise. She was able to keep just far enough behind them to see them enter a secret bunker.  
“This is it,” she said, giddy with excitement, she went for her scroll, needing to let the others know what was going on. She tried dialing Orion, but there was no signal, she needed to alert the old fashion way. Groaning, she started to make her way back towards her base camp. Her trip back was cut short as she stepped somewhere she shouldn’t have, the ground crack, then fell apart, Samantha unknowingly tossed her die out of reach, the eight-sided piece of plastic landed near the hole as she fell into the abyss.

* * *

 

Samantha felt like she fell for ages, her aura absorbing most of the impact as she hit the ground with a resounding thud. Shaking her head, she looked around, the place was somewhat dark, but with what little light she had, Samantha saw buildings, like the place was an underground city, it was in ruins, just like the world above, but this felt different, like there was something still here.  
She snapped to attention as the sound of a door opening came from behind her, as she turned around, Samantha stared into a blinding light as two White Fang members came out with guns.  
“Freeze,” one of the yelled, Samantha briefly considered jumping off the ledge she was standing on, but considering the last fall, she wasn’t going to take her chances.  
“Where did she come from,” asked the other.  
“You’re a long way from home, little girl,” the first one said, Samantha knew she had to fight back, she reached for her die, only to realize it wasn’t there.  
‘Shit’ she thought as one of the White Fang grabbed her by the arm.  
“Hands off,” she said, punching him in the face, it wasn’t very effective as he slapped her across the face.  
“The boss is going to want to see this one,” another voice said as Samantha faded from conscious.

* * *

 

Orion finished his round of being lookout, he was about to get the next person, but noticed something.  
“Hey, Natalia, it’s your-” he said yawning, pausing on seeing the empty bedroll, “Guys, where’s Samantha?”  
Natalia and Weiss were up in seconds, both of them looking around as Oobleck poked his head in from outside.  
“What,” he said.  
“What’s going on,” Weiss said, the slower of the two to get up.  
“Grab your weapons,” Oobleck said, “Your leader may be in trouble.

The four made their way through the city, looking for a sign of what may have happened to their team leader. Natalia was the one to spot her ‘weapon’, the small dice that channeled her girlfriend’s semblance shined on the ground.  
“Shit,” she said, grabbing the die, “It’s Samantha’s.”  
“Do you think she fell,” asked Weiss, looking into the hole in the ground.  
“Fell,” said Oobleck questioningly.  
“Down there,” Weiss responded, gesturing to the massive hole in the ground.  
“Oh my,” Oobleck said as he stared into the hole, “Of course…of course, of course, of course!”  
“What is it,” Natalia shouted, wondering why Oobleck was shouting, while she was panicking about what kind of trouble Samantha was in.  
“How I could be so stupid,” Oobleck shouted, ignoring the question.  
“Doctor Oobleck,” Orion said, his semblance drawing in the excess anger and fear from the people surrounding him, “What’s wrong?”  
Oobleck started to rant, but he said something that made everyone realize what he was so upset about.  
“Mountain Glenn! An expansion of Vale that was inevitably destroyed by Grimm! Previously home to thousands of people! Working people, commuting to the main city. Developed a subway system to the inner city! Grimm attacks increased! Population in danger, now desperately searching for shelter! City evacuates into metro tunnels and what do they find?! The southeast quadrant of Vale is known for wild forests and deep caves!”  
“Doc,” Orion interrupted, “What are you saying?”  
“My boy,” Oobleck said, grabbing Orion by the shoulders, “We’re not just looking for an underground crime network! We’re looking for a literal underground crime network!”  
“They’ve been working in the caves,” Natalia said questioningly, it made sense, but there was one question left, why.  
“No, no,” Oobleck answered, “Mountain Glenn was Vale’s first serious attempt at expansion. It worked for a short period of time, thanks to an aggressive perimeter defense and unique transportation. The city developed an elaborate system to carry citizens safely from the new territory to the main kingdom. Sadly, without the many natural barriers Vale had to protect its borders, Mountain Glenn was doomed from the start. As the end drew near, the citizens of the territory made one last attempt at survival. They took up shelter beneath the city, in massive caves they had cleared out for the subway, and they had cut themselves off from the surface.  
“An underground village,” Weiss said, slightly confused by all of this.  
“In a manner of speaking, yes,” Oobleck said before continuing, “A safe haven, until an explosion opened the mouth of another cavern, filled of subterranean Grimm. After that, the kingdom officially sealed off the tunnels,”  
“Creating the world’s largest tomb,” Orion finished, remembering the vigil that was held for all the lost, his aunt and uncle being among the dead.  
“Exactly,” Oobleck said, readying his weapon…which was also his thermos, “If Samantha is down there, we must find her.”

 

* * *

 

_Mountain Glenn Caverns_

Samantha came too while being dragged by White Fang members, looking around she saw members operating Atlesian Paladins, their models smaller than the one SNOW and BLZE had fought a while back, but seeing more than one of them was very unsettling. They were moving large crates of Dust, among other things. On her left she saw two Fang members assembling something, one of them was scolding the other for almost blowing them all to the moon, the other apologized immediately before getting back to work.  
Suddenly, the two dragging her along stopped, one of them calling out for their leader.  
“Hey boss! We found something you might want to see!”  
“Is it good or bad, Perry,” Samantha tensed, recognizing the voice of Roman Torchwick, “Because let me tell you, I have had a day.”  
Perry thought about it for a second before responding, “It’s a little girl.”  
Torchwick leaned out of the train car he was in, seeing the person the two were holding he did a sharp breath, “That would be bad,” he said, “Very bad.”

Samantha skidded across the ground, her arms hurting a little, having just absorbed a blow from Torchwick’s cane.  
“You kids are much more manageable without your toys,” he taunted, Samantha attempted to fight back, only to be knocked aside by Torchwick, “You know, Perry, I really did need this.”  
“But seriously,” he said, getting very close to Samantha, “How’d you find this place,” he asked the question with the barrel of his cane rifle at her throat.  
She responded by spitting in his face, then dodging the slap he attempted to hit her with, trying to run from her captor. Torchwick smirked, firing the head of his cane as a grapping hook, grabbing Samantha by one shoulder and dragging her back.  
“You like to play dirty,” he taunted, “Let me make this clear. We are not through here yet.”  
And at that moment, an explosion rocked the cavern.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so next chapter will kick into all the action, as for the Team BLZE scene, I was trying to find a natural way for Blake to bring up Adam...I think it works, without making it feel super forced...I really don't know, it's essential to the story, but with Team SNOW the ones being on mission with Oobleck, I wanted to still bring that up, you know, foreshadowing.  
> Speaking of foreshadowing, the prologue of Volume 3 is going to be all the shipping, or at least a talk.
> 
> As for side characters we got a couple:  
> -York Newshire  
> -Perry


	12. Chapter 11: Next Stop, Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team SNOW attempts to stop a runaway train, and dangerous cargo it carries.

“Oh, what now,” Torchwick shouted, the explosion that had rocked the cavern had interrupted his interrogation of their captive.  
“Perry,” he said turning to the Faunas behind him, “if you and the boys could take care of that? I’m kind of in the middle of something.”  
As Perry took some Faunas with him to investigate the explosion, another one rocked the cavern, this one much louder than the last one.  
“What is going on here,” Torchwick shouted, beyond annoyed with whatever was causing this.  
As both he and his captive stared down into the cavern, a fiery explosion sent White Fang members scattering, all running to get away from whatever had burst into the cavern, occasionally firing shots to try and deter their enemy.

Samantha felt the temperature in the room drop several degrees, even without seeing who had caused the explosion, she had a pretty good idea of who it was, her eyes widening when she saw her team, along with Doctor Oobleck, making their way towards her, even from here, she saw the glow around Natalia’s eyes, her 'semblance' was nearly impossible to control, her emotions activated it more than anything.  
Seeing her opportunity, she jumped over Torchwick, running for her team.  
“Somebody kill her,” Torchwick shouted, before firing his weapon, while White Fang members around him unloading pistol rounds at the young girl. Samantha dodged all the shots, causing Torchwick to try and break his weapon in anger.  
“Attach this car, and spread the word,” he ordered the nearest White Fang member, “We’re starting the train.”  
“But we’re not finished,” the Faunas tried to argue, before being slammed into the train car, the barrel of Torchwick’s weapon at his throat.  
“Do it, or you’re finished,” Torchwick growled, stomping off, leaving the White Fang member coughing.

* * *

 

As Samantha ran towards her team, she looked forward to see four White Fang members pointing their guns at her, throwing her arms up to protect herself, she instead shielded herself from the explosion that Orion fired, knocking the four enemies away.  
“Samantha,” Natalia shouted, wrapping her girlfriend in a bear hug, just glad she was safe.  
“Are you okay,” asked Weiss.  
“I’m fine,” Samantha said, kissing Natalia on the cheek, “But listen, Torchwick’s got all sorts of weapons and robots down there.”  
“What,” said Natalia in surprise, handing Samantha her die.  
“Androids, mechs,” Samantha said, rolling herself in Crescent Moon “They’re all loaded up on to train cars.”  
“That’s ridiculous,” Oobleck scoffed, “These tunnels are sealed. The tracks lead to a dead end.”  
Weiss just looked at him, she wanted to strangle him, but before she could say anything, an intercom activated, the voice of Roman Torchwick echoed through the cavern, “Get to your places, we are leaving now!”  
The train slowly started up, wheels squealing out as they ran along rusted tracks.  
“Well, it sounds like they are going somewhere,” Orion said.  
“We need back up,” Samantha said, “Let me try calling BLZE.”  
Samantha pulled out her scroll, the pictures of Team BLZE showed up, she got a little annoyed when the ‘No Signal’ message popped up again.  
“Dang it,” she said, “I can’t get through.”  
“So what do we do,’ asked Weiss, hoping it wasn’t what she thought it was.  
“I believe we have only one option,” Oobleck said sternly.  
Samantha finished his sentence, “We’re stopping that train.”

* * *

 

As the train rolled down the tracks, the five huntsmen and huntresses barely managed to sneak on undetected, a White Fang guard catching a glimpse of Orion’s foot. He attempted to call someone, but was knocked out by Oobleck before he could finish his message.

At the front of the train, Torchwick got the message from one of the other White Fang members.  
“Boss,” the Faunas shouted, “They made it onto the train!”  
“The grab some cargo and get them off the train,” Torchwick shouted angrily.  
“Manic animals,” Torchwick muttered, “Every one of them,” he then revised his sentence for the boar Faunas driving the train, “Not you though, you’re, you’re great.”

* * *

 

On top of the back car of the train, Doctor Oobleck started to get his students ready for the task at hand.  
“Hurry children,” he yelled over the wind, “We must get to the front and stop this train!”  
“Uh, Professor,” Weiss called out.  
“Doctor,” Oobleck corrected.  
Weiss ignored him, pointing to an object in the train car they had climbed out of, “What’s that.”  
Samantha recognized it, some White Fang members had been putting one together when she was captured.  
“That, my dear,” Oobleck said, kneeling down to examine the device, “appears to be a bomb.”  
The four jumped back from the opening, not wanting to be anywhere near it if it is one.  
Looking down the length of train, Orion spotted the White Fang climbing out of the train cars towards the front, and making their way towards the five.  
“We got company,” he shouted pumping his shotgun.  
“Well,” Oobleck said, “I didn’t expect them to go…” He was cut off by a loud beeping, looking into the car, the five say the device start blinking red, “easy on us,” he finished, his tone showing how done he was with this right now.  
“Time to go,” he said, his charges starting to move towards the next car, “Natalia,” Oobleck shouted, “detach the caboose or it will kill us all.”  
“Done,” she said, jumping down into the space between the two cars, popping out the hidden blades in her gauntlets, she went to hack the coupling in two when it detached on its own.  
“It detached itself,” Natalia shouted to the roof of the car, causing Oobleck to look over the side.  
“What,” Oobleck yelled in confusion.  
“He really does not want us on this train,” Orion commented.  
Oobleck watched as the caboose to the train exploded, the wreckage tearing open a hole in the tunnel’s walls.  
“That’s not good,” he said.  
“Neither is this,” Samantha said over his shoulder, turning around he saw that she and Weiss had opened the hatch to the next car, the look on her face said it all.   
“Another bomb,” shouted Natalia.  
Oobleck ran past Samantha and Weiss to the next car, muttering to himself as he did, opening up the hatch, it was what he feared.  
“They all have bombs,” he shouted back towards Team SNOW.  
At that moment, the bomb on Team SNOW’s car activated, and the car started to detach from the train. The four leaped onto the next car, escaping the explosive fate they could have had.  
“This doesn’t make any sense,” Orion shouted.  
“We got bigger problems,” Samantha said, the four turning to face the growing group of White Fang members on top of the train.  
“Get the humans,” one of them shouted.  
Team SNOW rushed forward to engage the enemy, Orion running forward to drop several with his shotgun, even slamming one through the hatch of the car in front of the one Oobleck was on. Natalia rushed in after him, using her grappling hooks as whips, knocking several to the ground and sending a deer Faunas flying off the train, he screamed all the way to the ground. Weiss used her semblance and some ice Dust to leave a trail of frozen Faunas in her wake, before disarming the two that had guns aimed at her as she ended her rush. Samantha launched herself in last, using the blunt side of Crescent Moon to knock White Fang members like bowling pins.

Meanwhile, Oobleck was watching the train car that had just detached go off in a fiery explosion, a large piece of the wreckage breaking open the ceiling in the tunnel, opening it to the outside world. At that moment, Oobleck realized what they were doing, seeing the Grimm that crawled over the wreckage, seeing the train in front of them, they started to follow.  
“Oh dear,” he softly said before calling out to his students, “He’s leading Grimm to the city!”  
“What,” Weiss shouted.  
“It’s the cars,” Oobleck explained loudly, “They detach and explode, creating openings for the Grimm!”  
“That’s insane,” Natalia shouted.  
As the next car detached, Oobleck began shouting again, “We have to hurry! Natalia, Orion, Weiss, you three go below and see if you can stop those bombs.”  
“What about us,” Samantha asked loudly.  
“We’re going to stop this train,” announced Oobleck.  
Samantha almost face-palmed, “I know,” she said, “I said that earlier.”

As the three dropped down into one of the open hatches, Samantha and Oobleck made their way down the train. Paladin mechs, piloted by White Fang members attempted to stop them. Oh, were they in for a surprise.  
“Up ahead,” Oobleck shouted, pointing to the first mech who jumped up, slamming into the ceiling before landing back on the train. From out of nowhere, Oobleck pulled out a ball of some sort, before proceeding to chug what was left in his thermos. With a mad grin, he ignited the end of his thermos staff, using the ball as a projectile, he turned it into a flaming cannon shot of destruction, decimating the first mech in a single blow before leaping at the second one with a barrage of fireballs and sweeping strike.

 

* * *

 

_Inside the train_

The three landed easily, looking around, they saw nothing but boxes, no bomb though.  
“Well,” Natalia said, stretching a little bit, “Who’s ready for what we’ve trained for?”  
“Born that way,” Orion said, pumping his shotgun, his team’s nervousness and anger had basically ended up supercharging him up until this point.  
The three started jogging through the car, going for the other side, they found themselves by a familiar looking woman. Her odd colored hair and short stature made who she was obvious, Torchwick’s new henchwoman, her smug grin a challenge, specifically aimed at the boy who had wrecked their last major toy.  
“You two go ahead,” Orion said, flipping his weapon into hatchet form, “This one’s mine.”  
Natalia and Weiss ran towards the little girl, but before she could even move a muscle to try and stop them, a slug from Orion’s weapon exploded in front of her.  
“You and me, you little bitch,” Orion taunted as he strode up to her, “Or is that not what you wanted?”  
The little demon grinned back, her eyes changing color when she blinked. Orion drew back his weapon for the first strike, only to have the blow counter, reeling back as he was knocked away by her umbrella. His next attempts to land a single blow didn’t go so well, the little demon he was fighting was damn near untouchable, his strikes slicing through thin air, or being stopped by her umbrella, she moved just fast enough to make sure her weapon wasn’t tugged away by Orion either. What made it more infuriating was how her umbrella was tough enough to absorb shots from his weapon. On top of all of this, she kept getting in kicks and blows from her umbrella, fortunately the amount of emotional energy Orion had drained off was enough to keep his aura sustained, but if this fight kept up like this, he was going to collapse, the little sleep he was working on did not help his situation. He finally got a little reprieve from the action as she did several flips and ended up sitting on one of the boxes in the room. Orion strode up to her, the anger of his face stared down into her bemused smirk, despite the fact that the girl was at least a foot short than him, it didn’t make fighting her any easier. He tried to slash at her, only to have her dodge the strike, and then they were at it again, every strike of his blocked, parried, or dodged, meanwhile she would get in the occasional strike, slowly wearing him down. He finally got an opportunity when he dodged a kick, grabbing the offending leg out of the air, he attempted to throw her, only for her to cartwheel out of it, followed by her rushing him, grappling a person at least twice her weight and throwing him into the ceiling. As Orion hit the ground hit the ground, he began to fade from consciousness, the last thing he heard was the sound of a blade being pulled from its scabbard.  
When he came too, he immediately looked at his scroll, only two minutes had past, and yet, with how the room looked, he wondered what had happened. There was no sign of the little psycho he had been fighting, but the room was completely destroyed, almost like some sort of monster had torn through the room. He would have to think on this later, right now, he needed to get to the others.

* * *

 

Natalia and Weiss didn’t get much farther after leaving Orion with that little psychopath. Weiss wanted to go back and help, but they had a mission to fulfill, and no matter how she might feel, the mission came first. Their next obstacle came in the form of a giant Faunas, Blake had said he was the one that had been at the White Fang meeting that introduced Roman. Blake guessed he was some higher up, like a lieutenant or something. Weiss didn’t have much time to think about it, the sound of the Faunas’ chainsaw dragging against the steel floors of the train car.  
“You go ahead,” Weiss said to Natalia, who just nodded, she wanted to argue Weiss fighting someone like this, but they didn’t have time to argue.  
Running ahead, Natalia managed to draw a strike out of the Faunas, one Weiss easily parried, letting the fighter know who exactly his opponent was. Weiss parrying several strikes while getting her own in, her weapon allowed her to be a lot quicker in battle. Knocking the Faunas over, he stood, Weiss could’ve sworn he was smiling under his mask, as he revved the engine in his weapon, chuckling to himself.  
“Finally,” he said, his gravelly voice sounded like something that came from a nightmare, “I get to kill a Schnee.”  
Weiss readied herself for battle, using a glyph shield to block the first strike, countering with one of her own, before deflecting the next strike with Myrtenaster. Weiss was fighter of incredible speed a grace, almost too much for opponent as she easily dodged or parried his strikes, always being able to counter with at least one of her own. Her blows always found home, but the damage was negligible, as he seemed to shrug off her strikes easier than anyone else she had ever fought, including Orion. After dodging a kick that knocked over the boxes behind her, Weiss went for a drill dive, the move was dodged, but following strikes bought her much needed space to channel a time dilation glyph, if she was fast before, she had become a blur of white, using a combination of quick launch glyphs she had set up around her target to send him sprawling to the ground. As he rolled away from the last one, she leaping strike gave him just enough of an opening to do something.  
“Come here princess,” he growled, grabbing Weiss by the head and slamming her into the ground, before picking her up and tossing her like a cheap tool, his chainsaw going for the kill, but Weiss’s aura absorbed enough to the blow to send her hurtling into the next room instead.

* * *

 

Natalia had continued forward, determined to end this once and for all.  
“You know,” Torchwick said as she entered the room, “I was expecting someone else, maybe your leader, or the cat, but you’ve all become a nuisance.”  
“I’m perfectly fine with that,” Natalia said, popping the hidden blades in her gauntlets before rushing Roman, the two getting into a very one-sided duel, Natalia easily outpacing her opponent, dodging his strikes and easily getting in some of her own, even pummeling Roman with several rounds from the machine pistols in her gauntlets, before having to dodge an energy blast from Torchwick weapon. She continued to pummel him, her powers kicking into gear as she was already causing the temperature in the room to drop by at least five degrees, but it picked up as she gave herself the opportunity to unleash a strong gust, sending Torchwick hurtling into a wall, stunning him long enough that Natalia to pin him where he laid, a blade at his throat.  
Torchwick smiled, “I knew I recognized you, Tisoki,” he taunted, causing Natalia to falter just a little “Why are we fighting? We come from the same background. We’re on the same side and you know it.”  
Natalia gritted her teeth, pushing the blade closer to his throat.  
“Ooh, still feisty,” Roman said, “So, what are you gonna do now? Do you really think killing me is going to stop what’s about to happen,” at that moment, Weiss’s body was sent flying into the room, followed by the chainsaw wielding Faunas from earlier, “So what’s it going to be, Tisoki?”  
Natalia responded by kicking Torchwick across the face, knocking him out, before grabbing Weiss and getting them both out of the train car.

* * *

 

On top of the train, Samantha and Oobleck were still fighting the Paladins, Oobleck doing most of the work, his super-speed and fire spewing weapon allowed him to easily deal with the multiple Paladins advancing on them. Samantha got in the occasional shot, helping him disable one Paladin by blowing its legs off, another losing both of its arms. As Oobleck looked down the tunnel, he saw the end of the tunnel approaching quickly, he needed to make sure as little was getting out of here as possible.  
“Samantha,” he yelled, “Go on ahead!”  
“But,” Samantha started, before being cut off by her teacher.  
“Don’t worry,” he said, “It’s time I teach them a lesson.”  
Samantha just nodded before running to the front of the train.

As she got up there, she saw what Oobleck had seen, the barricade at the end of the tunnel was fast approaching. The rest of her team joined her on top of the train, both Weiss and Orion were recovering from their respective fights.  
“Oh shit,” muttered Orion, seeing the end of the tunnel fast approaching.  
Samantha didn’t have to say a word, one glance at Weiss sent the short heiress into action, as she used her semblance to create a fortress of ice around the four, shielding them from the explosion that followed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And still feel awkward about trying to make the story work without certain elements. Long story short, we'll get to the backstory of Natalia later(probably not until Volume 5 or later), and I'm sorry we were missing the dog, I tried to make it work without Zwei, but he feels like he should have been essential. The show must go on though, and it will.


	13. Chapter 12: The Breach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team SNOW's mission becomes a mission for the whole academy as all hell breaks loose.

At two a.m., Leonard Thorn got a very interesting phone call, it was Samantha, the head of Team SNOW. Picking up the phone, he wondered what this could be about, only to hear explosions, gunfire, and screaming.  
“Samantha,” he said, confused. The call ended right there, leaving the boy wondering what happened.

 

* * *

 

_The next morning_

“I’m sure they’re fine,” Pyrrha said, Team BLZE was heading into town to get supplies for their hunt and had decided to see Team JNPR off.  
“Pyrrha’s right,” Elizabeth added, “They’ve done fine on their own before, I’m sure it was an accident.”  
“Probably a butt-dial,” added Nora, causing Zinnea to snort and roll her eyes.  
“Team SNOW has performed exceptionally in the field,” Ren stated, “Besides, we should focus on our own missions.”  
“We’re going to be deputies,” Nora said excitedly.  
Leonard sighed, “I guess you guys could be right, but still.”  
He was interrupted by loud sirens, and seeing the smoke rise from the city. It could only mean one thing.  
“Shit,” Leonard said, running for one of the Bullheads, “Tai, we’re probably going have to cancels today’s hunt.”  
Jumping onto one of the Bullheads he started giving the pilot orders, “Take us into the city,” he said, gesturing to the eight others getting on, “all of us.”  
As they got on, Jaune put his hand on Ren’s shoulder, “We’ll make it out to that village another time.” Ren just nodded in response.

Watching the group hop into the Bullhead, Cinder looked into the city, seeing the smoke and knowing exactly what was going on.  
“You don’t think,” Emerald started, not needing to finish the sentence.  
“Sure looks like it,” Mercury said.  
“That’s still days away,” Emerald said.  
“So? What do we do,” Mercury asked their leader.  
Cinder’s gaze narrowed as she weighed her options.

 

* * *

 

_Downtown_

Samantha’s ears were still ringing as she struggled to stand, debris, dust, and smoke had gone everywhere after the explosion went off. Looking around, she saw Natalia, Orion, and Weiss; the three were mostly fine, coughing and rubbing their heads, Weiss had the worst ‘injury’, she was mostly drained from her fight and ice safety shell. Looking around, Samantha saw where they were, the shopping district of the south side of town, hundreds of civilians stared at them with awe and disbelief, unsure of what had just happened. Then the ground under Samantha rumbled, and a King Taijitu burst out of the ground, with more Grimm, ranging from Creepers to Deathstalkers followed it, sending citizens into a panic, running from the Grimm as fast as they could. Team SNOW realized that their first mission wasn’t over yet, but it had turned into a disaster.

The King Taijitu loomed over Team SNOW, they were surrounded by large pack of Beowolves and Creepers. The four warily looked between the Grimm, each of them nervous but prepared for what was about to go down, if they hadn’t fought for their lives before, now would be it. All of the sudden, the giant Grimm snake let out an ear-piercing roar, causing the pack to rush the four. They did their best to fight them off, using shotgun blasts, hidden blades and machine pistols, glyphs to summon blades of ice, even Samantha’s scythe to cut through the small horde, but it wasn’t enough, more just kept coming, they were still leaking off into the rest of the city, going after civilians, they needed backup.  
That’s when they heard the roar of a small jet, Samantha looked up to see Nora Valkyrie riding her hammer into battle, using the grenade launcher in the head as a jet engine.  
“Nora smash,” she screamed as she slammed the King Taijitu into the ground with a single blow, dazing the beast. Around them, the members of Teams BLZE and JNPR landed, Leonard had music going on full blast from a weird device on his back. Orion recognized it wasn’t his, but Zinnea’s, the dragon Faunas was a fan of a certain artist from back home, who’s music skyrocketed in popularity when ‘Shine’ got released.  
“Let’s move,” Pyrrha shouted, causing both teams to spring into action, the music spurring them on;

* * *

 

Terrifying plane crash fallin’ from the sky  
Don’t look now ‘cuz you’re all gonna die

* * *

 

As the music got started, Jaune found himself left in the dust as both Nora and Ren were already fighting Grimm nearby.  
“Alright,” he said to no one in particular, “who’s first?”  
Behind him a giant Ursa landed with a resounding thud, shaking the ground around him.  
“O-oh-oh-okay, you’re first,” Jaune said nervously, “Ha-ha, okay, that’s fine.”

Nearby Pyrrha was finishing off the Grimm she had been fighting, using her spear to send a Beowolf flying before skewering a Creeper straight down the throat. Looking around, she saw the predicament Jaune was in, sure they had been training, but she still wasn’t sure if he was ready for this.

“Totally fine,” Jaune muttered, “Done this before,” no one had ever told him that Pyrrha had saved him last time. Taking a deep breath he let loose his first swing, followed by a flurry of slashes, not giving the Ursa time to counter, after several seconds he paused, wondering if he had done it. His thoughts were answered as the beast collapsed in front of him. Pyrrha proudly smiling nearby, glad that all her training was paying off.

At that moment, Sun and Neptune showed up with the rest of their team. The two decided that this was the appropriate time to joke around  
“Nobody move,” Sun shouted, holding up his badge, “junior detectives.”  
“We have badges, so you know its official,” Neptune added, Sage shaking his head in disappointment behind the two as they fist-bumped.

Then there was a roar of engines as an Atlesian carrier passed overhead, smaller planes flying around it. The entire field stared at them in awe, so distracted that if it weren’t for the gunfire of one, a single Ursa would have been the end of Samantha White. The aircrafts swiftly dropped their cargo, Atlesian Knights flooded the streets, the robotic army finally slowing the advance of the Grimm horde, but it wasn’t enough.

As the body of an Ursa landed at her feet, Cinder gestured to Emerald and Mercury, the three had made their way downtown quickly after the sirens had gone off, Cinder’s orders. Her two henchmen just smiled, Mercury rushing into the fight, his shotgun boots ripping through the Grimm in his way. Meanwhile, Emerald pulled out her twin pistols, their shots decimating the Beowolves and Ursa who rushed her, until an Ancient Ursa crossed her path, its body absorbing shots, forcing Emerald to change tactics. Dodging the first two scythes, Emerald’s weapons changed into a kusarigama, the scythes slashing away at the beast’s body, before it finally fell like the rest.

In all the chaos, no one noticed the stolen Atlesian mech crawling out of the breach, it had only one working arm and basically shut down after exiting the breach, Dr. Oobleck triumphantly on top of it. At that moment, more huntsman from the school were flown in, Team CRSN was first, Chancellor leading his team into battle, his teammates, Rebecca Organas, Samson Calrissia, and Nadia Sola, followed him into the battle, the four ripping apart the waves of Grimm with a variety of Dust-based weapons and several uses of Chance’s semblance, pushing Grimm into the line of fire with a wave of his hand. The other Bullhead contained Team CFVY, the first-year students accompanied by Professor Port. When the teams had started to arrive, the music on Leonard’s device changed, it had been belting out ‘Terrify’. The new song was an inside joke with Team BLZE, almost like the song had been written for Team CFVY:

* * *

 

Listen up, strap in, notify your next in kin  
You’re about to take a ride, a little on the blazing side  
Guzzle down your Red Bull, you’re gonna need a bucket full  
You’re watching me accelerate, Tearin’ up the interstate

* * *

 

The four landed, Yatsu taking out the Grimm around them with a single swing of weapon, shattering the ground around them, sending the various Grimm around them flying into the air. Meanwhile Fox and Velvet rushed forward, Velvet not using her weapon, the two pummeled the Creepers in their paths with fists and kicks, Fox focusing an ancient Ursa as it roared, rushing it down with a flurry of strikes, before one uppercut sent it into the air long enough for Fox to channel his semblance, the twin fisted strike sent a shockwave throw the gigantic Grimm, causing it to explode when it hit the ground nearby, the spikes covering its body turning into lethal projectiles, impaling the Grimm around it and sending them towards Team CFVY, Coco deflecting them with her bag, while Yatsu shielded Velvet.  
“Nice hustle, Fox,” Coco said, slapping her rust-haired teammate on the ass, her playfulness never lost, even in this fight.  
Coco strolled up to an Alpha Beowolf, the beast roaring it her face, she just lowered her sunglasses and looked it straight in the eyes.  
“You just destroyed my favorite clothing store,” she said, all emotion gone from her voice, spitting to the side for good measure, “Prepare to die.”  
And she did just that, deflecting the swipe with her bag before kicking the monster in the crotch, staring it directly in the eyes before slamming its head into the ground with her bag before defeating several smaller Beowolves with strikes that knocked them aside like they were a light as a feather, her semblance of super strength in full effect, all the while, the song on Leonard’s back played in the background:

* * *

 

I’m a cheetah on the plains, I’m a highway star  
A supersonic princess in a million dollar car  
Blood on fire, pumping through my veins  
Weaving in and out while I’m bolting through the lanes  
I’m hyperdrive, overdrive, hit the gas at fifty-five  
Break neck, train wreck, in my presence genuflect  
Track roundin, speed-a-sounding, electrifying, pulse pounding  
Heart pumpin, brain thumpin, watch me get the party jumpin

* * *

 

As the verse ended, Coco dodged the stinger of a large Deathstalker, Velvet running up next to her, the bunny Faunas’ weapon at the ready.  
“Hey come on,” Coco said, putting her hand up to stop her teammate, “you’ve spent all quarter building that up. Don’t waste it here.”  
Coco then strolled towards the massive scorpion, her weapon unfolding into its true form, a giant minigun. After a few seconds of it revving up, the weapon unleashed a hail of shots, decimating the Deathstalker, as well as several Beowolves and Creepers around it before Coco aimed it at the Nevermores circling overhead, each one being torn into two by the barrage of gunfire, their corpses crashing into the buildings and streets below.

Meanwhile, Doctor Oobleck was joined by Professor Port, the two looked at the small horde of Grimm rushing at them. Raising their respective weapons, fire and bullets slammed into the group, decimating them before they could even get close.

Professor Goodwitch strode down the chaotic streets, she was thoroughly done with today, first she had to deal with Taiyang this morning, she had forgotten how much of a headache he could give her, then there was the siren going off, bringing her to her current situation, angrily marching through the streets of Vale, slapping away any Grimm that attempted to attack her with her semblance, before reaching the breach. Using her semblance at full power, she used the debris around the hole to seal the hellpit that had been spewing Grimm, even moving the evaporating corpse of a second King Taijitu that had burst through the hole, only to have its head immediately blown off by Elizabeth’s weapon, the young sniper not wasting any time on getting rid of the snake-like Grimm. Once Goodwitch was done using her semblance to close the breach, all that was left to clean up the ruffians that had caused the problems. Roman Torchwick was found nearby, Emerald and Mercury holding him up at gunpoint, the White Fang members aboard the train either disappeared or were considered dead from the crash. The six teams stood around, they talked about the fight, congratulations in order for some, someone cracked a joke about Coco having to pay for all the damage she caused with the Nevermore crashing into the streets north of the breach, even Sage and Scarlet were getting to meet everyone they didn’t talk to at last night’s party. Orion asked about the device Leonard had, it was something Samuel had given him before he had gone off to Beacon, he just hadn’t gotten time to use until now.  
While everyone got caught up, Emerald and Mercury were helping to escort Torchwick into a jet to put him behind bars, before joining everyone else.  
“Oh, I can’t believe you caught me,” he said sarcastically, “You’ve really taught me the error of my ways,” as he was led into the ship he made a complaint to the Atlesian Knights now escorting him, “Hey, hey, watch the hat.”

 

* * *

 

_Beacon’s Landing Platform_

“Well, we did it,” Orion said.  
“With a little help,” Blake pointed out, the two teams sitting on the edge of the landing platform.  
“If we don’t get extra credit for all of that, I’m going to be severely disappointed,” Weiss said.  
“Weiss,” Zinnea said, “A two headed snake literally crushed a bakery. I think the only positive for you guys is that Goodwitch didn’t give you all detention for this. I wouldn’t count on getting extra credit.”  
Leonard sighed, “Besides, we didn’t solve everything. A lot of people got hurt, I don’t think anyone’s got a good motive for this, and the likelihood that Torchwick spills the beans is unlikely. We got more unanswered questions that answered ones.”  
“On top of that, we still got no idea who that mystery girl is, well, both of them,” Orion added, “No ID on Leonard’s mystery spy and I want to know what happened to the short chick who fought me on the train, she disappeared without a trace.”  
“What do you mean you don’t know what happened to her,” Natalia said, “I heard some sort of rampage even from where I had Torchwick cornered.”  
“She slammed me against the ceiling, I think I hit my head a little hard on the way down, when I woke up five minutes later, the entire room was destroyed and she was gone, it was almost like some sort of monster had torn through. One of the medics even looked me over and said that even though I hit my head hard enough to black out, there was no concussion, it was almost like nothing happened.”  
“Yet another mystery,” Samantha sighed, “Part of me wishes we could have called this the end of it.”  
“Not every story has a neat and tidy ending,” Weiss pointed out.  
“We might not have all the answers,” Blake said, “But we did well. Torchwick’s behind bars, the White Fang should have sustained enough damage from that they won’t be causing any trouble for a while. I think we can call this a win, something to be proud of.”  
“Yea,” Elizabeth added, “And if anyone tries to pull something like this again, we’ll be there to stop them.”  
Orion yawned, “If we can call this anything, I’d like to call it a good reason to take a nap. Holy shit, I’m beat, no crazy missions this week, please and thank you.”  
“Agreed,” his team said in unison.  
As the got up to leave, Blake, Samantha, and Leonard looked at each other, the obvious question of their minds.  
“Now what,” Samantha asked.  
“We go through with the plan,” Leonard answered.  
“We’ll ask Team CFVY, you guys talk to JNPR, and on Saturday we’ll be able to go talk to Samuel,” Blake added, “Hopefully we can get them to do this.”  
“They’ll come,” Leonard said, “Believe it or not, they got as much stake in this as any of us, if not more.”  
“And what does that mean,” asked Samantha.  
“A rose in bloom attracts all sorts of potential, even if the rose wilts away, it doesn’t mean the potential goes away, it just finds something else to revolve around.”  
“Ok…,” Blake said, “And that means?”  
“It means that you’re all in for a surprise,” Leonard said, smirking at Blake, “Some more than others.”

 

* * *

 

_Ozpin’s Office_

Ozpin was listening to the ruling council of Vale talk about the incident today, he didn’t want to do this, but he had to. He was only half-listening, knowing that in the long run, the decision would not affect his position at Beacon.  
“Ozpin,” one of the councilman’s called out, “Ozpin!”  
“Yes, Councilman,” Ozpin said, snapping back to the conversation.  
“You’ve left us with no choice,” another councilor said sternly, “The Vytal Festival Tournament cannot be broadcasted, let alone held, if we are unable to ensure the safety of the citizens,” clearing his throat, they said something Ozpin was expecting, but not wanting, “Therefore, we have reached out to the Atlas council, and together have decided that the best option is to appoint General Ironwood as head of security for the event.”  
“Thank you, Councilman,” Ironwood said, as he was also in this call, “Our kingdom is happy to lend as many troops as it takes to make sure that this event runs as smoothly, and safely, as possible.”  
“And we thank you, General,” one of the councilmen responded.  
“Will that be all,” Ozpin asked, annoyed that he had to do this, he had more important things to do.  
“For now,” one of the councilmen said threateningly, “But this festival comes to a close, we are going to have a serious discussion regarding your position at Beacon Academy. General Ironwood’s reports of these last few weeks have left us somewhat…concerned. I’m sure you understand.”  
The council left the call, leaving Ironwood and Ozpin alone.  
“This is the right move, Ozpin,” Ironwood said, trying to ease the tension, “I promise. I will keep out people safe, you have to trust me.”  
Ending the call, Ozpin stared out of the window in his office, confident that Ironwood was thinking about this as well.

 

* * *

 

_Ironwood’s Flagship_

Ironwood closed the call with Ozpin, staring at the tower that held his friend’s office.  
“You brought this upon yourself,” he muttered, before proceeding to the other issue of his recent weeks in Vale. It was the only cell on his ship that had someone in it, most of the time, the place was empty, the occasional troublemaker spending a night in one of these cells to teach them a lesson, but that was always rare. The cell opened to reveal Roman Torchwick, the crime lord still trying to act confident despite his situation.  
“Leave us,” Ironwood ordered the two guards at Torchwick’s cell before turning to the scum himself, “I’ve been informed that so far you’ve refused to cooperate with the authorities,” Ironwood stated to his prisoner.  
Torchwick just smirked at his captor, “I know this might be hard to believe General, but I’m not the biggest fan of local law enforcement.”  
“How about the world’s strongest military power,” Ironwood asked, crossing his arm.  
“First impressions,” Torchwick said, looking around his barely larger than him cell, “Not great.”  
“I’m going to give you one chance,” Ironwood stated, needing to make sure this ass knew what he was in for, “Who’s really behind all of this?”  
“Isn’t it obvious,” Torchwick said leaning forward, “You’re lookin’ at him.”  
Ironwood sighed, “Very well then,” he said as Torchwick’s cell slammed close.  
“What’s the matter, General,” Torchwick called out from his cell, “I thought you wanted to talk.”  
“The council has given me custody over you for as long as I see fit,” Ironwood explained, “So you can make yourself comfortable. I can assure you, we’ll have plenty of time to ‘talk’.”  
“Oh wonderful,” Torchwick said, a sinister smile growing on his face.

 

* * *

 

_That Evening_

Looking over the plaza from today’s attack, Cinder discussed the events of today with Mercury and Emerald, Neo was back at school covering for them in case anyone came looking.  
“All in all,” Cinder said, “I’d call today a success.”  
“Those stupid kids really made a mess of things,” Emerald pointed out, shaking her head.  
“Yeah,” Mercury agreed, before adding his own point, “A lot of Faunas didn’t make it out of those tunnels, Voorhea and Perry got a small group out, but I think that was it. You think the White Fang is going to even listen to us after this?”  
“No,” a voice said, the three looking at their new arrival, a red-headed bull Faunas, the intricate design on his mask made it obvious who it was, _him_ , the leader of Vale’s White Fang branch, the Mad Bull himself, “But they will listen to me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so that chapter's done, now the epilogue and we can move onto Volume 3.  
> Also, holy crap we got a lot to go over with this chapter. 
> 
> First, my cheeky Star Wars reference, Team CRSN(While the name has no Star Wars reference, the members kind of do):  
> -Chancellor Skyrunner  
> -Rebecca Organas  
> -Samson Calrissia  
> -Nadia Solo
> 
> Second, the music, we got two songs this time, both references to the beloved music writer of RvB and RWBY, Jeff Williams.  
> -[Terrify](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbSUd9Kqp3w)  
> _[Caffeine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrW6JpeRc8Q) (Get em Casey)
> 
> Third, sorry this took a while to come out, works been running me ragged as of late, and I got some personal problems going on as well. Hopefully I'll be able to still have up to Volume 4 finished before Volume 5 drops so I can do 'The Oath' in preparation for Volume 5(You guys are gonna love it), until then, thanks for sticking with me.


	14. Epilogue: Of Death and War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teams BLZE and SNOW are joined by JNPR and CFVY in a pact that will bring them into conflict with the absolute darkness of their world

The days following the breach were peaceful, Teams BLZE and SNOW talking to CFVY and JNPR about joining them on Saturday on a trip to see Samuel, or how they put it, a friend. Unsurprisingly, JNPR was the first to agree to go, Jaune talked into it by Pyrrha, with Nora and Ren agreeing to go with their leader’s decision. Part of their quick agreement was Orion letting loose information about their night on the town by accident, something Weiss scolded him about later, but it was the convincing that JNPR needed to go.  
Team CFVY was a bit harder to convince, Coco unsure if they should be getting involved with this. She was right in saying that it wasn’t their fight, it wasn’t they might have had stake in the outcome of what was coming, but that didn’t mean they had to get involved in something like this, a war where even as bystanders their survival was not guaranteed. It was Velvet who convinced her otherwise, the rabbit Faunas could be very convincing when she wanted to be, Leonard made a mental note that ‘bun eyes’ were potentially more powerful than ‘puppy eyes’, something to maybe test in the future, if they had time. The day before the trip, Coco agreed to go, though never gave her reasoning on her change of thought, she didn’t have to. It didn’t matter anyways, Leonard was just glad he had people he could trust doing this, people who were loyal friends, even if they didn’t see themselves that way.

 

* * *

 

_Saturday_

On the way to Samuel’s, the group had split into their teams, Leonard and Elizabeth moving around, talking to the various teams to see how they were feeling and if there were any questions. Fortunately, there were no major incidents along the trail, there was one conversation Leonard was not expecting, one that not even he could have been prepared for.  
During the walk, Zinnea pulled Leonard back, away from their team, who was leading the group, as Elizabeth and Leonard were the only ones who knew where they were going, to ask a certain question.  
Pulling out her scroll, she used the camera function to zoom in on the ass of a certain cat Faunas, showing it to Leonard, Zinnea asked a simple, yet important question, “How doomed am I?”  
Leonard’s eyes flitted between the image and the look on Zinnea’s face, “I,” he started, giving himself a few seconds to think out his response, “don’t know. I mean, do…do they know?”  
Zinnea shook her head, “I don’t if I could, I mean, if I did. How would they react,” the worry in her voice was evident, “This is different, back home there was this person I liked, over time, we both realized it was familiarity, not what we thought, but this time it feels different. The way I feel around them, it makes-“  
“-you feel alive,” Leonard finished, sighing, “Sorry, it’s just, I was wondering what you were trying to ask me when you first showed me that, but now I understand. You want my advice, don’t you?”  
“Yea,” Zinnea said, staring at the ground, feeling sheepish about this, for the absolute badass she could be, she didn’t even have the courage to do this on her own.  
“My advice,” Leonard said, regretting what he was about to say, he knew what he was about to say could backfire immensely, “Don’t,” Zinnea looked at him, eyes wide, not expecting this answer, “Just don’t do it yet,” Leonard continued before the dragon Faunas could respond, “As much as I want to see you guys be happy, we’re about to start the Vytal Festival, and with everything that has happened recently, I don’t think this is a good time. I’m not telling you to not go after them, just wait, we have too many demons in our future to make this a good idea.”  
Zinnea nodded before asking a different question, “Did you already know,” she asked.  
“I had a good idea, it was either them or someone else,” Leonard responded, wiggling his finger to simulate a monkey’s tail.  
“I do not like Sun like that,” Zinnea huffed, “He’s always been a major annoyance, he’s a good friend, but I found a long time ago that I don’t like him.”  
Leonard gave her a look of curiosity and teasing, “Is it him or his gender?”  
Zinnea glared back at him, “Pretty sure it’s him, but I’ve never decided to test that theory.”  
Leonard just smiled, “Alright then, remember, just wait, you don’t know what is going to happen, or even if they feel the same way.”  
“Do you,” Zinnea asked, “I mean, did you, when you and Elizabeth first, you know?”  
“I didn’t,” Leonard said, “But that’s part of what love is, you don’t know at first, you have to take a leap of faith, faith that whatever you feel is what they feel, and that feeling will never fade.”  
Zinnea just nodded, wandering off to go talk to Velvet or Orion, Leonard making his way back to the front.  
“What was that about,” asked Blake, Zinnea’s partner was always worried about her, she was happy, but she always seemed like she was bothered by something, Blake didn’t know exactly what, but she wanted to help. The conversation she overheard though, it wasn’t what she was expecting, her heart sunk a little, the words too vague to get an idea of who they were talking about, but something told Blake it wasn’t her.  
“Weren’t you listening in,” Leonard said teasingly, earning himself a light punch in the arm from his girlfriend, “What, it’s not like I’m lying.”  
Blake blushed a little, but said nothing.

* * *

 

About fifteen minutes later, the four teams were outside Samuel’s home, Leonard had already yelled at Nora for trying to touch the door, before Samuel answered the speaker.  
“We’re here,” announced Leonard.  
Samuel used the camera on top the door to look at the large group of huntsmen and huntresses in training outside his door, “Did you really have to bring this many people?”  
“What do you mean,” Leonard asked, “We can all fit in your living room.”  
“The living room, yes, but not the couch,” Samuel explained, “At least half of these people are going to have to stand.”  
Leonard smiled, “I think we can manage that,” the door opened, “Alright folks, everyone in.”

Once everyone was inside, they were greeted by a slightly shorter than average man, his wild hair sticking out in all directions, the bag under his eyes were not as big as usual, but they still sat there, a constant reminder of his long hours working on all manners of projects. His shirt read, ‘Professional Mad Genius’, something he got custom made after the constant teasing from both Leonard and Mizayaki when they were younger.  
“Everyone,” Leonard said, gesturing to his long-time friend, “This is Samuel Church, creator of my gloves, a close friend for many years, and an absolute genius.”  
“Sup,” Samuel said, “And before we get started, Schnee, if it makes you feel better, there wasn’t any personal info in that file you sent me last time, however,” he paused, turning to Leonard, “Leonard, we’re gonna need to talk after this, that file I needed to decrypt finished the other day, do you got any idea what Project: Crusader is?”  
“No…” Leonard responded, “How about we get everyone settled, then you can explain exactly is going on.”  
“Alright, but I need to get the cables set up so I can project onto the screen in the living room, I was expecting less people, honestly, when you said you were bringing friends, I thought it was just going to be Schnee and her team, not all of this,” Samuel said, gesturing to the small crowd in his living room, “In the meantime, I think you have some explaining to do.”  
“Yea,” Coco piped up from the small crowd, “You haven’t exactly explained why we’re out here, in the house of a mad genius.”  
“I’m a professional,” Samuel yelled from his lab.  
Leonard sighed, “Alright, but first a little bit of a history lesson. How many of you have done research on the history of Beacon?”  
Most of the group looked confused, Pyrrha and Blake being only ones to raise their hands.  
“Why am I not surprised,” Leonard muttered before asking his second question, “Alright, and what would you say are some of the more famous teams to graduate from our school?”  
Pyrrha was the first to answer, “Well, there’s Team GLOW, Team DARK, Team DRGN, and…”  
“Team STRQ,” Blake finished as Pyrrha struggled to remember the last team on the list, they had both read the articles in the school library, it had been an article where most of the teams had normal endings, but that last one had been left anonymous for so long, Blake knew the truth, she had learned from her teammate after the incident at the docks, now it was everyone else’s turn.  
“Yea…Team STRQ,” Leonard said, trying to contain the emotions that came with his past, “Summer Rose, Taiyang Xiao Long, Raven and Qrow Branwen, I knew them, grew up with them as an extended family. You see, my parents were part of Team GEAR, friends of Team STRQ, or now, what’s left of it. After they graduated, Taiyang and Raven got married, around the time I was born they had a kid, you guys would’ve liked her, a ball of energy, but unfortunately, that’s never going to happen, or at least in a way where it matters. When we we’re both about one, Raven disappeared, leaving Tai devastated and Yang basically motherless, so Summer stepped in, raising Yang as if she was her own, and along the way, she and Tai fell in love, they had Ruby when I was about three, you would’ve liked her too. We learned about Raven when we were about four, Yang became obsessed, wanting to know why she left, so one day, about a year later, she loaded Ruby into a wagon and went after her, instead she found a pack of Beowolves, needless to say that was a closed casket funeral. About ten months later, Summer committed suicide in grief, and I got my semblance soon after, paralyzing a close friend and I’ve been forced to wear gloves of some sort to protect the world from me. But we’re not here for that, we’re here because recently, I learned that there’s the possibility that those events were not what they seemed, and that what we faced earlier this week is not the last of it. I’m here because I need people I can trust, even if you don’t want to help, you should at least know what’s coming.”  
“And what is that,” Natalia asked, her voice was sharp among the stunned silence of her peers.  
“A war,” Leonard said simply, “And it starts at the Vytal Festival.”

After several minutes of stunned silence and quiet murmuring, Samuel walked back into the room, he looked around; all the stunned faces giving him a good idea of what had been the conversation while he was away.  
“When I said you had some explaining to do, I probably also should have said not to go all out.”  
Leonard shrugged, “And what, leave out a major part of the story, there’s no way I can explain the current situation without some details of my past.”  
“ _Your past_ is going to be part of that explaining today,” Samuel retorted.  
“Yea,” Leonard sighed, “Speaking of which, where are they?”  
“Mom’s teaching Miza her cookie recipe, the kids are…I actually don’t know where they are, I saw them this morning, but they kind of disappeared about an hour before you guys got here,” Samuel said, before yelling done the hall for his girlfriend, “Miza, have you seen the kids today?!”  
“Why are you asking me,” Miza shouted back.  
“You’re the one with the powers,” Samuel retorted, “Doesn’t that give you the power to track them.”  
“I just know whether or not they’re in the building,” Miza shot back, “Hint, they haven’t left.”  
“Uh, guys,” Blake said, hugging herself tightly, “Is it really cold in here or is it just me?”  
“No,” Weiss said, the ‘Ice Queen’ was shivering next to Orion, “I feel it too.”  
Leonard looked at the two for a few seconds, finally putting it all together, he realized what had happened, “Alright then,” he said before also shouting across the home of his friend, “Aunt Rose, your kids are doing it again.”  
All of the sudden the head of a young woman popped through the wall, causing everyone else to shriek in surprise, Elizabeth quirking an eyebrow, not realizing Orion’s voice could get that high.  
“Ghost,” Jaune shouted, before running face first into a wall.  
“In hindsight I should’ve expected this reaction,” Leonard muttered, staring at the dazed blonde on the floor.  
“What the fuck, Thorn,” Coco screamed, “Is this some kind of sick joke?”  
“If they were holograms I would be annoyed too,” Leonard said calmly, his team realizing that this apparition was real.  
“So your ‘contact’ is a ghost,” Blake said, clearly surprised by this development.  
“A ghost with ghostlings,” Leonard chuckled, “Everyone meet Summer Rose, former leader of Team STRQ, mother of the two clinging to Blake and Weiss, and the literal ghost of my past.”  
“Hello,” Summer said with a soft smile, before turning towards Blake and Weiss, “Ruby, Yang, I know you’re excited, but can you please stop getting cuddly with the living, the poor things are going to freeze to death.”  
At the moment, the spirits of Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long formed around their respective could-have-been partners, their forms misting as their cold forms touched the warm bodies of the living.  
“Aw,” Ruby groaned, “You’re no fun.”  
“Why not,” complained Yang, “She’s gorgeous, and she’s got cat ears, oh Dust, does she purr?”  
“Is it possible to strangle a ghost,” Blake asked, a little annoyed, the blush on her face was saying something different though.  
“Please don’t attempt to murder the already dead,” Samuel said as he set up the last of the equipment, “It’s a complete waste of time, trust me, I tried it once.”

While people tried to ponder what Samuel meant, or just stared at the awe and horror that were the trio of spirits in the living room, Samuel finally got his machine connected.  
“Alright folks, listen up,” he said, his raised voice resounding across the room, “The reason Leonard has actually brought you all together today, is this,” he said gesturing to the screen, now playing scenes from the Vytal Festival in another time, one playing scenes involving the two young ghosts in the room as well as Blake and Weiss, it was mostly coherent, fights and adventures during the festival, then it changed, there was a resounding sound of something twisting and breaking, and then the scenes changed, gone was the happy festival, replaced by scenes of Grimm and White Fang descending on the school, monsters that caused everyone to pay attention, there were none of the scenes Samuel himself had personally seen, like the death of a warrior and the loss of an arm, but the tone was all the same.  
Leonard coughed to get everyone’s attention as the scenes faded, the only ones left were a scene of Mistral in the distance and the face of a nightmare, “While we don’t know when, we do know that during the Vytal Festival, something is going to happen, someone is going to die in the arena, during the tournament, we don’t know who or how, but it’s going to set off a reaction that will bring Vale crashing down.”  
“So why not tell someone,” Coco asked, “Get the festival canceled. We could stop this before it happens.”  
“Then they come at us from a different angle,” Samuel said, “Look, Adel, I’ve been going over this thing for three months, even if we cancel the festival, that attack on the school still happens, sure it takes a little longer, but it still happens, and worse this time, the attack they use doesn’t leave many survivors, I’m doing the math from what information I’ve got, every scenario I’ve seen so far, we will lose, it’s all about two things, the number of survivors and what we do after.”  
“We,” asked Pyrrha.  
“Yes,” Leonard said, “Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to make sure that once the Vytal Festival and the events that immediately follow are over, you will do everything you can to help bring whoever is behind this down, because it won’t stop here, whatever goes down in Vale is probably going to happen across Remnant, and if we can stop that, there may still be a tomorrow for all of us.”  
Everyone looked at each other, Leonard could see the looks on his teammates’ faces; BLZE already knew their answer, they were in, no matter what. SNOW was the next to go with it, they had been through so much at this point, why stop now. JNPR and CFVY, while separate in their decisions, both agreed to go with this, it was what they had trained for, and this was nothing more than that.  
“Alright,” Coco said, “We’re in, just one question, who’s the creepy bitch with the white face paint.”  
Leonard blinked, never expecting to hear that description, “Not sure,” he lied, he knew the truth, but didn’t want to jump to conclusions with it, “All I can really guess is that she’s probably the one responsible for all of this.”  
“She looks like she’s old enough to be my great-grandmother,” Orion commented.  
“She might even be older than that,” Samuel responded, “I did a little research into the Grimm, there are several myths about something called the GrimmSire, there’s no explanation on how that name came to be, but there’s the possibility that if that story is true, she’s it. A literal end to the world,” Samuel sighed, “Alright, if you guys got any questions for our ghostly residents, ask them now, who knows when you’re going to be seeing them again, as for you two,” he said grabbing Leonard and Elizabeth, “We need to talk.”

* * *

 

In Samuel’s lab, he pulled up Project: Crusader up on one of the screens. The blueprints looked like it was for a robot beyond any of their imaginations, it looked human, and familiar, almost too familiar.  
“This was the file I pulled out of the stuff Weiss sent me,” Samuel explained, “I wanted you two to see it, just so I didn’t do any conclusion jumping of my own. It’s her, isn’t it.”  
“Yea,” Leonard said, surprised at what he was looking at.  
“It explains a lot actually,” added Elizabeth, “The social awkwardness, the way she was able to control all those swords, they’re a part of her.”  
“Penny,” breathed Leonard, “What are you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, another chapter dedicated to Leonard's backstory...man I really hate myself for doing this. Also, more ship hints, as well as the almost obligatory Bumblebee thing, because we all know it ain't happening in this story, maybe in another one.  
> Also, naming what exactly Penny is in Atlesian 'top-secret' project terms was kind of fun, I feel like that Project: Crusader would be a good fit for her, considering the names of the other Atlesian robots and mechs, it fits.
> 
> Finally, Volume 2 is done, which means Volume 3 can start up soon.

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer; With the exception of my OC's(labeled as such) the RWBY series, as well as many of the characters in this story are property of Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum.
> 
> If you wish to get to know the characters of this story more, check out my tumblr, [RWBY-Scattered Petals-AU](https://scatteredpetals-au.tumblr.com) for more. Thank you all.


End file.
